Readers Respond: How Do You Fall Asleep At Night?

Responses: 63

From Mark Stibich, Ph.D., former About.com Guide

Updated October 30, 2008

This content is not monitored by About.com's Medical Review Board.
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I use a sleep mask. I am so convinced that they help me sleep that i started making sleep masks to help people sleep and look cute while sleeping too. http://www.lenekonoir.com/category/Sleep_Mask/c22
—Guest Annie

i cant fall to sleep and when i do i cant stay to sleep i only get maybe 3 hrs sleep per night please help thanks jo anne
—Guest jo anne coplen

If your a teenager, do your homework! Its so boring, you will just fall to sleep! + You would have started on your work too. Win win situation.
—Guest Matt

The BEST method to get good sleep is to keep yourself busy!!! 1. "An idle mans mind is a devils workshop" my Dad used to say....bless his soul! All sleep disorders are basically the result of lethargy and an easy life style. 2. A tired body will long to sleep at the drop of the proverbial hat. 3. Most sleeplessness are psychological; it is mind over body all the time. The mind controls the body and the body responds to it. There is no other explanation to this, in my opinion. Look at hypnosis: the mind that is taken over - by someone else- and sleep is induc ed almost instantaneously. If someone else can do it, YOU can do it yourself. Most of the time, you psyche yourself into a fit - about the lack of sleep or the failure to sleep. 4. Most of the time, you cant sleep basically because the body wants to be active and the mind wants you to work. The best thing will be to do some physical work and you will drop off to sleep. 5. Too much sleep is NOT needed for a health, unless you have s
—Guest Dr. Venky

I keep a notebook near my bed just to write down things that are going through my mind... things I might not want to forget, experiences from my day. Once the thoughts are transferred to paper, I am free to sleep without a wandering mind.
—bongoboy11

Good nap in day time is not easy for mid aged peoples.As they are busy at work and how to take the nap.But old age peoples need the nap half an hour daily is better.If you take the long nap at day time you`ll get alert at night.People who have less stress and worry are fall asleep faster than who have more stress.When you start to sleep don`t think about the bill,budget crisis and kids.Every peoples and families have full of stress of family affairs,job less and rocketed prices.If we think all these ,there`ll be easy to arrive of non stop imagination make us to be sleepless.Later the next morning the sleepless make us to be weakness of immune system and we`ll have illness.Try to stay positive and focused as i know things will be better one day.
—Guest san san ohn

Get into a routine, if you go to sleep reguarly at 9:30. Then always go to sleep at 9:30, even on weekends. This gets you sleepier earlier sometimes and you will fall asleep quicker, works for me!
—Guest Scrolls

Three and a half years ago I began using a CPAP machine after i was diagnosed with sleep apnea. It changed my life significantly. I now get a full night's sleep. I no longer get up in the middle of the night, I don't have nightmares, my blood pressure has come down, and I am more alert during the day. As a result I enjoy life much more now that I am getting a good night's sleep every night. I would not have suspected sleep apnea if my physician had not mentioned it to me. I have been amazed at the difference this has made.
—Prismatic2

Instead of thinking 'I must get to sleep, I must get to sleep' tell yourself you have to stay awake! Works every time for me.
—Guest carrikp

In Indian AYURVEDA (HERBAL MEDICINE br)it has been said that "Name The best medicine to a natural way to sleep is ' HARD WORK ie. Physical labour"to your satisfaction.No medicine is better than a hard physical labour during the day. A good dinner with fresh,warm and easy to digest food followed by a glass of warm milk is another way to go do bed.
—Guest hariom vyas

The name of a medicine to get better sleep is HARD WORK I repeat HARD WORK This has been mentioned in Indian AYURVEDA.If you are fully (fully means fully) tired, a good, fresh and light dinner will invite a good sleep without any doubt
—Guest hariom vyas

For nearly 30 million Americans and many more around the globe sleep disorder is an unfortunate reality. Everyone needs to get enough sleep to feel rested and energetic throughout the day. For most this means at least six hours a night and at least 8 or more for teenagers and children. Sleep is a very important behavior that is supersensitive to many things that can disrupt it. Pain, rumination, anxiety, mood disorder, new surrounding, uncomfortable temperature, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and medication side effects can all disrupt a normal night sleep. Sleep disorders can also lead to depression, cognitive processing deficits and even more serious problems such as narcolepsy (sudden sleep) that can result in motor vehicle accidents. Sleep disorders can be confronted and treated with the following approach: 1. Identify that you have a sleep disorder, particularly if you notice your sleep pattern has changed, you are exhausted throughout the day, or you are dozing off at inapp
—Guest Fit Brains

Relax each part of you body one at a time. Start from the bottom up. Focus in your mind on your feet and think relax next your calf muscles,relax. By the time you get to the top of you head you will be so relaxed you will easily fall asleep. It took me a short while to believe in this but it really works.
—ftworthsteve

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