day seventeen - are you up?
Of all the innumerable failings of my brain, low serotonin and melatonin production are up there as some of the peskiest. The resulting insomnia is rarely fun
I’ve been a night owl for years now. I get tired, often exhausted, but have terrible trouble actually getting to sleep. At the times when I’m already feeling low, it seems to be the perfect time for anxiety to take over my brain.
Thoughts of things said or unsaid, either through the day, or back to my childhood and anywhere in-between. Memories of stupid mistakes I’ve made or when I’ve made a fool of myself. Anguish over how an email or message may be interpreted, or how I may have misinterpreted communication from someone else. Second guessing decisions I’ve made. etc etc etc.
I’ve tried a lot of tactics to attempt to get my nights back - from pouring though book after book, endlessly searching for a new series to binge through to numb my brain, through to taking various prescribed medication. Sadly, none of these have seemed to work tremendously effectively… they work, but I wake feeling not unlike a zombie. early mornings became a concept reserved for others, or the unfortunate consequence of an all-nighter.
Lately though, I’ve been trying a new strategy which has, so far, been worked better than all the others combined. I’ve been trying to be as productive during the day as I can, and have been taking long walks of an evening.
Proactively #gettingitdone (as my mate describes it), has greatly alleviated much of my stress and ensuing anxieties. The long walks have not only helped me to regain some physical fitness and improved my sense of body-image, but it has given me the mental space to think, reflect and plan ahead. After 5-15kms, I return home happy and spent.
Whilst I haven’t yet changed my body clock, these steps have changed how I’m able to get through the day, and when I do hit the pillow, I fall happily asleep in minutes.
Kilt of the Day - Ross Modern Hunting Tartan (again)
Link of the day - Settling the debate on serotonin's role in sleep : The brain chemical is necessary to get enough sleep - California Institute of Technology
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190624173822.htm
Grigorios Oikonomou, Michael Altermatt, Rong-wei Zhang, Gerard M. Coughlin, Christin Montz, Viviana Gradinaru, David A. Prober. The Serotonergic Raphe Promote Sleep in Zebrafish and Mice. Neuron, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.05.038
