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how to: stop mind racing at end of day and sleep.

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Blindspot149
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17 Oct 2009, 11:43 am

toto wrote:
How to stop mind racing at end of day and get to sleep.

I find going out in the community quite traumatic.. so I need to manually shut down mind at end of day.. so I can get good early nights sleep to enable full functioning next day.. and to enable going out first thing.
It is not natural to be so energetic at night. It is artificial.

Solution:
I find the earlier I come in at night (from community) is useful. say 4hr pre sleep
But in addition a hot bath 3hr pre bed. Your body temperature lowers after that.
Also reduce sources of stimulation. Also good to emotionally heat-sink to other people.. but I live alone.

Or go outside in the garden. In the cold and lie down on the grass... and your body and consequently your mind is force to comply and slow down.



Alcohol :?:


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oppositedirection
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17 Oct 2009, 1:07 pm

Read lying down in low light and without my glasses on. Providing my mind isn't racing to much to read then this usually works.


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Woodfish
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17 Oct 2009, 7:06 pm

LostInSpace wrote:
Woodfish wrote:
What almost always works for me is to listen to an audiobook. I imagine it's similar to a child being read to at bedtime :) Cosy and feeling cared for. Seems at least in my case to be the right type of concentration (to end racing brane).


I also find that listening to an audiobook helps me get to sleep, a lot better than reading a regular book, which tends to keep me awake. For me though, I think the difference has to do with the sensory modality involved, as reading Braille in the dark before bed is just as effective as listening to an audiobook. Focusing on hearing or touch helps to calm my mind down, while focusing on visual stimulation just wakes me up, apparently. It could also be that keeping the light off (rather than on to read a book) allows my body extra time to produce melatonin before trying to go to sleep (light suppresses melatonin production)- though I only spend 15-20 minutes reading though, so it shouldn't make a big difference. Unfortunately I can't take melatonin supplements because I have unpleasant side effects.



This is what struck me, trying to think .. when one listens to an audiobook I feel then what the mind does is a little bit similar to dreaming, perhaps. Like visualizing the scenes described in the audiobook. And the way it often happens for me is I then realise the scene I just saw was not in the book. It was a proto-dream. And then I'm already half asleep :)


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Zeno
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18 Oct 2009, 9:28 am

lithium73 wrote:
This will probably make me sound like some sort of psycho but when i go to bed i imagine that i am a sniper in some sort of bunker. Imagining the construction of the bunker and how safe it is followed by the sniper aspect ie. power of life and death from a distance seems to calm my brain down enough for me to go to sleep. I also have another scenario involving a room / bedroom on a space ship and the detail of its construction then i image what cryogenic sleep would be like. Thats usually enough for me unless its too hot. I put off heat like a convection oven when i sleep and if i had things my way i would sleep in ice cold aircon all the time but the wife cant tolerate it.


Anything that focuses the mind helps. Some meditation techniques asks that you focus on an imaginary point of light far out in the distance. The stillness that must be attained before firing a shot is similar. Breathing slows, muscles relax and the mind is focused on a targeted point. So it is not psychotic at all to pretend to be a sniper.



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18 Oct 2009, 9:41 am

Vigorous exercise is perhaps the best thing that people on the spectrum can do to get regular sleep. I exercise in the morning every day doing basic calisthenics like push-ups, burpees and squats. On most days I walk at least 3-4 miles a day and end my daily schedule with sit-ups and pull-ups. The routine not only keeps me fit, it also helps me cope with some of the worst effects of autism. And I would rate periodic sleeplessness as one of the most damaging aspects the condition has wrought on my life. The chemicals released through exercise seems to switch the body off and that in turn sets the mind to rest.



MrVulcan
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19 Oct 2009, 7:22 am

lithium73 wrote:
I put off heat like a convection oven when i sleep and if i had things my way i would sleep in ice cold aircon all the time but the wife cant tolerate it.

LOL! That sounds exactly like me. This morning I woke up 15mins before my alarm and my back was completely covered in sweat! I have the A/C running in my room even though it's cold outside (because if I open the window I can't control how hot/cold it will get in my room).

It used to take me over an hour to get to sleep. Now I take Melatonin & Robaxacet before I go to bed and it takes 20-30 mins to fall asleep.