I stopped getting mad about insomnia a long time ago. I get mad about people making noise at night, I get mad about politics and environmental degradation and bad music, but there's just no point in lying there at 1:30am and being mad about it. Here's how the internal monologue would go:
"Shit shit shit! If I just fall asleep right now I'll still get 5 and a half hours! Sleep, damn you!"
--later--
"Shit shit...shit shit! If I fall asleep right now I'll still get the US Marine Corps requisite 4 hours..."
And so on.
So, anyway, I don't do that anymore. I just space out and try to figure out how a bed that feels like the most comfortable place in the world at 7:00am can possibly feel so uncomfortable just a few hours before.
The other thing is that sleep deprivation doesn't have to make you miserable...the trick is to treat it like a very cheap drug you bought from a guy in a 7-11 parking lot in Gilroy. You should be like, "hey! I'm high on this very low-quality drug! Isn't this something!"
2.13.2007
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7 comments:
the neighbors were yelling at five am this morning. seriously, what is WRONG with these people? At least I have someone to blame things on. :)
Your post made me wonder if insomnia is endemic among grad students? Is it the kind of work we do that produces this outcome or does academia attract those of use inclined towards insomnia?
Anyway, for what it's worth, you're not alone.
[Word verification definitly has a timer. If I take more than two minutes to post my comment then it won't accept it on the first try. This is so counter-intuitive to the reason for having a word verification process.]
Definitely not alone -- and I agree that it might be partly the nature of the work we do. But I love your reinterpretation of it as a cheap drug high. I am high on that junk right now -- woo-hoo!
the cheap drug part sums up how i feel about dayquil.
Mmmhmmm sounds familiar :-P
The gods have much wrath for the history department this quarter, indeed.
I was getting mad about the neighbors letting their car alarm go off for sooooo long this morning around 5am. Almost an hour later I realized it was my alarm clock the whole time and I was now very late.
Man, I have the same problem. I lay in bed a lot and have the "if I just fall asleep now I'll get 5 hours" ... "4 hours"... "3 hours"... "@$#@^^"
I have found a few things that help this. These methods don't prevent nightmares about students or peasants (the past week's) but they do help at least get me to go to sleep. Also, I refuse to read in bed. Same room OK, in bed is not. In terms of getting to sleep follow this order:
1 - wind down before going to bed. Like, watch sitcom re-runs and drink hot chocolate or some hot peppermint tea (not too much or you have to wake up and pee often, very annoying). This is of course if you have time which I usually do not... move to next step.
2 - create a warm environment. I bought a $12 heating pad. Or one of those electric blankets or mattresses that heats itself. So far it's working when I put the heating pad on my shoulders.
3 - ear plugs and mask for the eyes. This is key. Every night.
4 - when it's really bad. Suffer through the night and the next night, if you still have it, take two tylenol pm and go to bed early.
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