difficulty falling asleep

I've actually had difficulty falling sleeping for a few years now. ill just lay there... and think and think and i try to turn my brain off but its difficult. strange thing is that once in a while ill fall asleep kind've quickly... but i notice its when my brain is already kind've jumbled. like ill lay down and rapidly start thinking disordered thoughts.

but thats how i fall asleep is my brain has to be spitting out nonsense basically or just start thinking things that dont make a lot of sense or be making up some kind've story that i consciously have nothing to do with making up.

but i normally have to bet on at least 30 mins to fall asleep but sometimes it can take up to 2 hours and very rarely even longer... so it basically kindve sucks.

i remember talking to my boyfriend a few years ago about the difference between falling asleep and going to sleep and he was like what??

but its like if i consciously am going to bed, get ready for bed and lay down, even if i'm really tired ill have trouble falling asleep. but if im trying to stay awake, like to do homework or watch a movie or something i can just pass out pretty easily. this weekend i went out of town and in the car and on the plane i could easily fall asleep, despite being in uncomfortable sitting up positions.

i dont know why this is and its pretty annoying... does anyone have any idea why i have such a hard time falling asleep? or what do u do to help with this?

Although I don't claim insomnia I know what you mean about needing random thoughts in order to fall asleep. My boyfriend falls asleep in like 5 minutes but it takes me at least a half hour to fall asleep.

Have you tried meditation? It should clear your mind of structured thoughts and make room for the randomness. When I can't sleep I do yoga and it seems to work pretty well.

i sometimes have trouble sleeping but not anymore since I started being more active on these forums. The way I go to sleep every night now is lying on my back with my arms to the side. This wasnt necessarily the most comfortable position, my favorite was always my side and so sometimes after a while I just move onto my side. but anyways, I also have trouble clearing my head because my imagination is really active and I don't really every stop thinking about things. So what I do is make my imagination focus on one thing thats pretty bland. Usually I would count sheep so i'd just imagine a sheep on a pinwheel spinning around and every time it hit the top i'd do one count. Now I just count backwards from 99 and picture the numbers as I go. It's also really important to control your breathing, so sometimes I count my breaths really slowly. And when these all fail, I just turn onto my side to get more comfortable and usually within a few minutes I just end up falling asleep.

Another technique is looking left as far as you can, then right as far as you can. and repeating this 10 times. Then go up, down, clockwise, counterclockwise. Your eyes will get really tired and then try the counting techniques. Hopefully this works.


Or you could smoke some weed

i do smoke actually.
not as much now that im in college and have to study all the time...
and sometimes it helps me fall asleep, but not all the time.

What? How does smoking weed make you fall asleep? Ofcourse it sometimes makes me tired, but I can't actually sleep until I'm not high.

But anyway, masturbation makes you fall asleep pretty quick.

exercise may help. try and exhaust your body.

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Originally Posted by Ostego

masturbation makes you fall asleep pretty quick.

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Originally Posted by theyearthreethousand

exercise may help. try and exhaust your body.

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Same thing. :lol:

Well I do exercise... I'm on the gymnastics team at my university and we work out 4-5 days a week.

can anyone think of a reason for me being able to fall asleep better when i'm trying to stay awake then when i'm trying to fall asleep?

like if i know i have to stay awake to finish studying or whatever i can fall asleep really quick... even if it means im laying on the floor or sitting up or w/e.
but if im trying to go to sleep, even if i get up after falling asleep while studying and go get ready for bed ill still have trouble falling asleep once i lay down.

Yeah, I sort of get that way as well. I wish I could help you out more. recently, I have tried reading before I try and sleep, but if anything - it has backfired... because it makes me think a lot more. my head goes into OVERDRIVE whilst I'm trying to get to sleep. it is ridiculous. sometimes I think that smothering myself with a pillow is the best option.