Insomnia is too normalized in college, especially as finals season comes around. Insomnia makes it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or get a good sleep. It can heavily affect your day-to-day life. Not only can it affect your cognitive function, moods, and focus, but it also can worsen your mental health. In extreme cases, without sleep for 36 hours you begin hallucinating. If you find it hard to turn your brain off at night or wake up and cannot fall back asleep, you may benefit from trying some of these helpful tips.
A before-bed routine might help your body and mind relax before bed. Find a relaxing hobby that avoids screens: reading, crocheting/knitting, drawing, writing, sudoku… etc. Many recommend having a cup of warm tea (non-caffeinated) or a drink you only have at night. I like to follow a skin-care routine, make a cup of hibiscus tea, and then read or crochet on the couch until I get tired. Try not to do homework, work, or anything that isn’t sleep or sex in your bed.
The Calm app is an app made to help people cope with stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness. It has guided relaxation/meditation techniques, bedtime stories, music, white noise, and more. One downside is that many of these things are only included with a subscription.
Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that helps you relax your muscles and focus your mind on a single task. It involves tensing and relaxing different muscle groups. It is ideal to do this in a quiet environment, but following an audio recording or video at first until you get the hang of it might help. If you have a tendency to dissociate, a history of childhood trauma, or experience psychosis you may want to skip this one.
CBT-i Coach is another free app dedicated to helping insomniacs. CBT is an acronym for cognitive behavioral therapy. This app was originally made to help people with PTSD and veterans by the VA’s Center for PTSD and Stanford School of Medicine. Unlike the Calm app, you do not need a subscription to use their tools like stories, white noise, advice, breathing, and more. This app has probably helped me the most out of this list.
Lastly, Melatonin. Melatonin is a natural compound already in your body that plays a role in your sleep habits. Melatonin gummies or pills often help people get more and better rest. If you have any allergies or outlying health issues you should consult a doctor beforehand. These have a side effect of giving people very vivid dreams so if you’re prone to nightmares these may make them worse. These are for short-term use and are not a permanent solution. The long-term effects are still being researched.