Insomnia doesn’t mean never being able to sleep. It means being unable to remain asleep for an adequate length of time.
Usually insomnia stems from anxiety and worry. Even though Aspies are known for being anxious most of the time, research seems to indicate other factors as possibly being the cause for some aspies’ unusual sleeping patterns.¹
Because I’ve never known what ‘normal’ sleep is like, I’ve always wondered why my sleeping experiences are so different. I wasn’t the only one who wondered. A psychology professor I had who taught Psychology of the Conscious, was also baffled. My dream journal disturbed him so much that he highly suggested I find a therapist who might be able to makes some sense out of my vividly morbid nightmares. Contrary to what most people might think, nightmares do NOT always indicate an underlying psychopathology.
Even though I’ve had nightmares and night terrors all throughout my life (sometimes more often than others), I did not develop chronic insomnia until after I was married and raising children. The insomnia never left, but it has decreased since its acute 13 years.
I have a healthy method that both helps me to get back to sleep and curb the horrors my mind creates when dreaming. However, there are times when nothing works. It’s those nights when I know that the best thing I can do is find something quiet to do for the night—like writing this post for example.
Obviously, it is important to have as comfortable of a place to sleep as possible. A waveless waterbed mattress made up of cylinder tubes with foam and water minimize the urge to toss and turn. Down feather pillows make the ideal complement. No headboard can beat an open window bringing in fresh country air! It’s great when the nights turn cold, because then I can bury myself under a nice heavy down comforter. If it’s not cold, I make due by covering myself with my pillows. I wear a pilot/trapper/trooper hat and a sleep mask that covers my eyes, since I’m sensitive to temperature and light changes.
Those things take care of the body, but they’re not enough for a constantly hyper-active mind.
Since I rarely ever sleep through the night without waking up, the tricky part is to keep the times of being awake as short as possible. If I’m creating my own thoughts, it can take me hours before I’ll fall back asleep. However, if an external source leads my thoughts, then sleep may come back after a couple of minutes. I’ve found a way to get my mind back to sleep AND decrease my nightmares at the same time!
I wear comfortable earphones connected with an extended wire to a bedside stereo system that plays the bible on CD. Since it is recorded in an MP3 file format, the entire bible fits onto 2 CDs. That means I can leave one CD in all night without having to hear something being repeated many times over. What does often happen as I listen to this while sleeping is I end up having dreams with someone speaking scripture to me. I never had a nightmare yet while listening to the bible in my sleep. I’ve tried listening to music while sleeping, but that doesn’t help much since it doesn’t provide me with something to think about. Since I cannot turn off my thinking when going to sleep and too much thinking keeps me awake (and can also wake me up), hearing the bible provides the perfect balance!² For those who would call this brainwashing, my response would be, “Mankind needs his brain washed, since human nature is depraved.”
¹I’ve learned some interesting things about nightmares, night terrors, and the aspie mind from my past research. Unfortunately, I no longer have those sources for linking into posts. I’ve tried searching again, but have not been able to find them. I have found other insights into this subject and will write about it some other day.
²So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. — Romans 10:17
