Friday, July 25, 2008

I Can't Get No Sleep

From time to time I get insomnia. My wife also suffers from this inability to get to sleep, but in a much different capacity than what is currently afflicting me. Her's requires a nightly sleep aid to allow her to sleep. Mine strikes intermittently making it impossible to even lay still in bed. I can't really say what causes it or why it strikes, but it's as if my body has these twitches and leaps in it making it very hard to drift off to sleep. Sometimes I can pinpoint a cause (usually consumption of large amounts of caffeine prior to bed does the trick) but then there are those nights when it becomes obvious that sleep is not coming soon. So what does one do? Do I lie there in the dark hoping that something will allow me to calm down? Do I give in and take a drug knowing that the sleep will not be true? So, instead I came out here to the computer to type to see if that might help center my thoughts. So I have nothing original or thought provoking to say just musings to pass the time.

I suppose I could write a review of THE DARK KNIGHT since I saw it today, but what could I say that would be unique or new to the conversation? (other than that I personally enjoyed it quite a bit despite the unrelenting darkness of the film and yes Heath Ledger is very good...)


I could take the time to talk about the state of my beloved LA ANGELS (best record in baseball) but since no one else in mainstream sports media cares about them then why should I?


I could opine on the state of the US economy and the eerie parallels between the current situation and the beginning of the GREAT DEPRESSION of the 1930's (but that would only put you to sleep, not me)?


I could pick something random and just babble on about it, but that might just get my mind all fired up and then I never get to sleep!!! THIS IS ABSOLUTELY MADDENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So I put this to you dear readers, how do you fight insomnia? How do you drift off to sleep when every ounce of your body is fighting you? Leave suggestions in the comments section. I'm gonna go have some warm milk...

(mp3 ) The Perishers -- Trouble Sleeping

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I set myself a time limit, something not too soon but not unreasonable - 'if I'm still awake in 40 minutes I'm getting up, making tea, reading, watching a film... but not staying in bed, I'll just give up sleeping for a bit'. That usually does it for me - it's only about once out of ten that I actually need to get up. To be honest I sleep so little these days that insomnia is no longer the problem that it was... hey, that's the other answer! Sleep deprivation. Go to bed at midnight and get up at five. Before long you'll be sleeping in your chair never mind your bed.

Unknown said...

I think we all suffer at some point or other. I find that the harder I try to fight it then, the more I think about it, and the consequence is that I lie awake tossing and turning and getting mightily pissed off with the world.

My trick nowadays is to plug in a collection of 100-odd tunes on the i-pod (real slow burning, chill-out stuff). I find that works after maybe 15 or 20 mins in.....

James Lamb / tvjames said...

Have another child. When they let you have a few precious minutes or hours, your boby will take it.

Lifehacker.com regularly hs articles on sleep.