What can I do for sleep deprivation?

I’m a freshman in college suffering from insomnia. I’ve been seeing therapists who say its likely due to my anxiety and depression. However, I’ve been working on treating these conditions for years and I don’t think we’re going to be able to treat them anytime soon. I was wondering what I could do in the meantime in order to either get to sleep or even if there is just a way to eliminate the effects of sleep deprivation. I’ve always been a good student, but now I’m struggling because I can’t keep my eyes open in class and I frequently fall asleep and jolt awake even though I’m not able to do sleep at night. I’ve been getting to sleep on average at 4 am or later and I have to wake up at 7. I also wake up several times during the night. Also, I haven’t been able to wear my contacts anymore because my eyes hurt and are really sensitive to the pressure (it feels like someone is pushing my eyes in). What can I do to function better until I am able to treat the underlying causes?

By the way, I don’t want sleeping pills because I do not have enough hours to devote to sleeping (I can’t go to sleep before at LEAST 1 am because, well, it’s college). I also would really prefer not to use herbs or alternative medicine (I have my reasons).

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Well, I suffered from insomnia for almost 6 years and recently started taking over the counter melatonin. Works in 30 minutes I set my alarm for 5-6 hours and wake up fine not groggy or drowsy. Since you don’t want pills I would suggest meditation. I have a great sleep CD too. Turning off electronics at 1AM or whatever time you devote to sleep. Not eating or drinking an hour before bed. Since caffeine sugar carbs etc give you energy. Reading something like an encyclopedia to tire your eyes so they eventually close. Setting a strict schedule 2 hours before your devoted sleep time. Hope any of these can help. Good luck

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 6th, 2009 at 8:17 pm and is filed under treating anxiety with herbs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.