Hey! So this is my first post because I’m tired of laying awake doing nothing and found this website. My issue is that my major depressive disorder has absolutely wrecked my sleep schedule. I’m writing this at 1:30 am and this “morning” I slept straight through my alarms and woke up at noon. I have a flexible work schedule but it’s to the point now where I’ll just miss it altogether. I’ve been having this problem since the semester started in January but it’s only getting progressively worse no matter what I do. I’ve tried asking my mom to check if I’m awake, but I open my eyes and all I want to do is go back to sleep. I’ve tried setting multiple alarms but all I do is turn them off. Help!
Does anyone have any tips for how to peel themselves off the bed in the mornings and how to get themselves to go to sleep while depressed? I’m on an antidepressant but I having a bad episode that’s lasted a few months so far. I’ve asked my psychiatrist and therapist about it but haven’t gotten any advice or help with it. Ahh any tips would be very appreciated!!
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Annabanana0715
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Aside from depression, sometimes other things keep us from going to sleep. I was drinking too many things with caffeine in them. Eating too much sugary stuff late at night. Found I still had some trouble and took Tylenol PM's when needed. You have to be careful though not to take them all the time. Even they are an over the counter drug, abuse can cause problems too.
Oh yeah I can’t do caffeine unless it’s the morning because I’m so sensitive I’ll be up all night! 😬 I usually use melatonin supplements when I don’t feel tired at all or now that my seasonal allergies have kicked I use Benadryl. I’ll try Tylenol too though! It’s good to have options in the arsenal.
OK, no magic here and takes some willpower. I have insomnia issues with nightmares when I do sleep. By 9:30-10 p.m. the TV,, computers, etc are shut off in our household as well as the phones except for certain numbers where there are serious illnesses.
If husband wants to watch a certain movie, he watches in a didffeerent room....he has an internal clock that puts him to sleep by 11:00 or so and he wakes by 7 am.
I read and do take a mild OTC sleep aid, By midnight, I go to bed.....never eat after 7, caffeine and sugar are banned for me.
Some nights I am up all night reading or doing laundry, etc...just know I am not settled down to sleep. As morning comes I NOT GO BACK TO BED, and carry on . Sometimes that second night I won't sleep and don't fight it. However, by the third night, my body and mind are tired enough to want to be in bed between 10 pm and 11 pm. That takes care of the issue for up to a month.
Then I may have to repeat several nights of no sleep to get another month of sleep.
I will try this! As a millennial who’s addicted to her phone it’ll be difficult to put it down but it’ll be worth it if I can get my sleep schedule back under control. I have books that I bought but never read, so maybe I should give those a shot! Many times when I’m depressed I forget that I still have power over my situation, because it often feels like I don’t at all. Thank you!😊
Thank you for replying with such a positive attitude. My husband has his business phone glued to his hip.......took him awhile to ignore it and shut the business down for the evening.
Sometimes I see where people reply with some very good ideas and suggestions, and the poster just asks the same question again and again....like one doesn't like the selection offered and is hunting for something easier in a "department store".
You absolutely made my morning! And you are going to be ok......but if what I suggested doesn't work for you, please post again. We will try to find a "better fit" for your situation.
Aww thank you for saying thank you! 😂 honestly taking advice from people is something I’ve had to work on in therapy. When I first went into therapy for my depression I was so resistant to what my therapist would suggest, I wanted to do things MY way and just talk about myself until the cows came home. But then one day I had an epiphany: my way isn’t really working, now is it? 🙃 Plus I love to give out advice and would be hurt if the person I gave advice to acted the same way I used to with an eye roll, so I’m working on actually listening to people for a change. It’s crazy how it’s actually more helpful than doing it *~MY way~*. So I’m glad that I’m getting better! 😆💖
Wow ansax9, that truly hit home. I feel I wasted many years on therapy because of not really listening to my therapist. I talked from the minute I reached her until it was time to hang up. (phone therapy because of agoraphobia). I wondered why therapy wasn't working for me. Whenever she did try to interject into my babbling, I would say "But, But" and be right back to square one.
And then one day while sitting and thinking about myself, my life....I had an epiphany (like you) . A light bulb went on in my head.. OMG my therapist was right in the few words she was able to interject. I was handling therapy all wrong. It wasn't about talking insatiably but about listening and putting all that knowledge into play in my own life.
The rest is history now...I'm no longer agoraphobic, no longer controlled by anxiety and living life with an expectation of being free and being myself once more.
Hopefully, others on the forum will learn from our experiences and be able to go forward as well.
Ugh wow that is such a good story!!! And so relatable. I’ve never fully dealt with agoraphobia, but definitely a lot of social anxiety so Im familiar how awful it is to realize the the only way to get over it is to face what you dread most. But doing it is so healing. My best friend is really struggling with depression and a bit of alcohol abuse and she’s so stubborn and “I wanna do it my way not listen to you” and it drives me nuts because I want to help her, but I realize that this is something you have to realize on your own, and telling her what to think is only going to push her further down the “I wanna do it MY way” hole.
Thank you for sharing that awesome story though! It’s a perfect example of what I’m talking about. We shove our heads up our own butts and think we can find all the answers there when the solution is screaming us right in the face and we plug our ears like little kids. (Lol sorry for the gross analogy, I couldn’t think of a better way to say it lol)
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