What to do when overthinking keeps you from falling asleep
Sometimes in the middle of the night you will remember the past and feel absolutely ridiculous and ashamed. But just remember those thoughts are probably a reflection of being tired and stressed, and not an accurate reflection of who you are. You are not a completely irredeemable person despite of your mistakes, and they don’t erase the good you do, or the fact that people in your life still care about you. It doesn’t mean you’re a cringeworthy person, it just probably means you are exhausted and need to go to sleep but your brains decided to latch on to past experiences because it is so used to having some kind of stimulation all throughout the day.
Maybe you can focus on the good you’ve done, instead. Maybe you can do some breathing exercises. Maybe you can text a friend if you think they are still up. You can read a little to distract yourself. Or you can journal about these feeling if it helps you get them out of your mind and see that this extreme sense shame and guilt for being just another human on earth who makes mistakes and looks silly or awkward from time to time is often irrational.
Whatever you do, don’t latch on to those thoughts. Make yourself a cup of tea, and after you’ve done something else for a little bit, try to go to bed again. But don’t stay in bed for hours ruminating, because the tiredness is only going to make you more anxious.
Many people recommend getting out of the bed if you can’t sleep for the 30 minutes and instead doing something else for a little a while and then coming back to bed, and this can be helpful if you are having too many thoughts at night because it keeps you from latching on to them. And it can be helpful to vent about it on a journal if it helps you to work through them or to feel like you can let go of them this way.
But whatever you do, don’t focus too much on them, let them pass through, do something to distract yourself a little: anything to keep thoughts that are not logical to keep you from relaxing and falling asleep and making yourself feel like a terrible person for things that only make you human.
YouTube is full of videos for people struggling with insomnia. There are guided meditation videos, hours-long videos with relaxing music or with rain sounds, and there are also those where people read books and tell you stories. They can offer some distraction for when thoughts come creeping in, or when noises easily wake you up.
At the end of the day, you’re only human, and you deserve rest. These are some things that help me when I am struggling with overthinking during the night and it keeps me from falling asleep. I have struggled with insomnia for a very long time, and these things have helped me through it. But if nothing helps, consider going to a doctor, since insomnia is a serious thing and getting help for it can be beneficial to your life quality. Remember that asking for help doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human, and there is no shame in doing so.
