When My Body and Brain Are on a Different PageOftentimes, when I go to bed my body signals to my brain that I am exhausted and ready to sleep. In response, upon climbing under the covers, my brain decides...reactionscomments
Trauma, Anxiety, and Insomnia: A TrifectaI have been experiencing insomnia since I was a young girl. As a teenager it was a lot more prevalent, and over the years it has varied in severity. There...reactionscomments
Imagining My Way Back to SleepDoes your brain race you into total panic or wide-eyed-wakefulness in the middle of the night? Does your hamster wheel spin so loudly it could wake the neighbors? Mine did...reactionscomments
When Hunger Strikes in the Middle of the NightDo you ever wake up in the middle of the night starving? Does going to the kitchen, finding and consuming a snack prevent you from falling back asleep? I have...reactionscomments
Microsleep and My Macro-FearsI never knew that microsleep was a thing. I should known though, as it is something I have been experiencing for the last few years. There just was not a...reactionscomments
Succeeding at Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)If you clicked on this article, you probably already know about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I; if not, start here). You have probably already heard that it is a...reactionscomments
Interview With My Partner: Tips for Bed Sharing When Living With an InsomniacEveryone who shares a bed knows there are nuisances, quirks, or even challenges in sleeping beside the one you love. From taking up more than your allotted spot on the...reactionscomments
My Child's History With InsomniaOf all the things my child will and has inherited from me, I do so wish for her that insomnia is not one of them. She has that same fiery...reactionscomments
Off Ambien and Into LifeThis is an anonymized pseudo-case study of "Cassie" and her journey of weaning off of the sleeping medication Ambien (zolpidem). It is pretty representative of the processes people go through...reactions8comments
What Insomnia Gave Me and Then Took AwayInsomnia has been around for me for many years. It has kept me from sleep and cost me many dear things in my life. This morning as I sat and...reactionscomments
Daydreaming of a Good Night's SleepI laid in my daughter's bed the other night holding her hand as she drifted off to dreamland, I thought about how different sleep can be for a small child...reactionscomments
Insomnia and Depression Go Hand-in-HandInsomnia is one of the words that carries such weight in my world. There are in fact a few single words that bear a lot of weight in my life...reactionscomments
What Is the Real Cost of Taking Supplements That Stop Working?I am amazed at how much some people will pay for bottles and boxes of pills and potions at the health food store. This is even for "unproven" supplements. And...reactionscomments
The Digital Addiction and How It Is Influencing Your InsomniaThe influence of technology on our sleep has become a hot topic. From adults answering work emails to teens scrolling through social media late into the night, the effects of...reactionscomments
How It Started and How It's Going: Tinnitus and InsomniaNot all that long ago, I was sharing my experience with insomnia with a friend. I probably wouldn't have had to say very much; it was written all over my...reactionscomments
School and Insomnia: Navigating Sleeplessness Before and After GraduationThe quality of my sleep drastically changed when I graduated from university. I had not realized how much being in school worsened my insomnia until I graduated and my sleep...reactionscomments
What Is the Relationship Between Blue Light and Sleep?In our modern, technology-driven world, screens are integral to our daily lives. Whether working on a computer, scrolling through social media on the phone, playing video games, or watching TV...reactionscomments
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Radically TiredWhen insomnia makes its unwelcome appearance in my life, there aren't many choices left for me. I am already well-versed in the management of insomnia through lifestyle changes, sleep hygiene...reactionscomments
Hormones, Pregnancy, Postpartum, and InsomniaSomething I have noticed over the last many years is that, as a female, my hormones impact my sleep cycles. From my periods, to pregnancy and the postpartum period to...reactionscomments
My Sleep-Related Eating DisorderA couple of years ago on a Sunday morning, I awoke in my bed stretching across my pillows I was met with crumbs on my pillow. What was worse was...reactionscomments