If you often find yourself overthinking a conversation, fretting over something that hasn’t happened yet or playing out scenarios in your head, you’ll know that getting your recommended seven to eight hours of sleep isn’t easy when your brain feels like it’s tied up in knots. In fact, the stats show that we’re a nation of worrywarts; in 2013, clinical psychologist Peter Kinderman led an online study at the University of Liverpool that discovered ‘ruminations’ (anxious thoughts) are behind many common mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression and stress. A study by the University of Michigan also found that 73 percent of adults between the ages of 25 and 35 overthink, as do 52 percent of 45 to 55-year-olds. But not to fear, reclaiming a quiet headspace isn’t impossible – read on to find out how.
An over-active mind
The human mind is a complex ball of emotions, but the prevalence of each one (joy, sadness, anger, melancholy etc) is affected by our everyday choices. So, while it might seem ironic to you that your brain chooses to dig up an unpleasant experience that you had five years ago, right before you go to sleep, to your body, it makes perfect sense. Psychologist Dr Alison McClymont explains this further: “As the brain attempts to decompress and relax for the night, some people might find that their brain is still overactive, possibly due to caffeine, too much screen time prior to bed or simply obsessing over what the day brought.” Once you’re aware that you seem to be worrying more at night-time, you can start to tweak your habits to bring this decompression forward in the day and think about whether there’s a pattern. “It might be helpful to look at the theme of the stress. Is it work, your relationship or a friendship that is causing this night anxiety, or is it a mixture? Once you understand that, it will be easier to work out how you can address it.”If your worrying is impacting your slumber, try to nail your wind-down routine as much as possible pre-bedtime. You can do this by:
• Not drinking caffeine past 3pm.
• Limiting blue light past 5pm.
• Avoiding sugary foods after dinner.
• Reading, listening to classical music, or relaxing before bed with a meditation or deep breathing exercise.
Drawing the line
Sometimes, optimising your wind-down routine still doesn’t negate the bigger worries, in which case, it might be better to try and sit with your thoughts rather than push them aside, as Dr McClymont explains: “In some cases, it can cause worry by projecting attention on to the focus of ‘worrying’. It might be more helpful to simply acknowledge the thought (please note, it is important to recognise it is a thought – not a reality) and allow it to ruminate and float away. Introducing the idea that thoughts are not a certainty, they are simply a thought, is important for releasing anxiety’s grip on the brain.” It may sound simple, but being aware that your mind sometimes exaggerates the problem at hand, can have a big impact on the amount of attention that we give it. “We can think many things, but it does not necessarily mean they will happen. This is an important distinction to make when it comes to helping the brain switch off. Acknowledge the thought, watch it pass by, and release it.”
Setting your worry curfew
A great strategy to help you decompress earlier in the day is to give your worrisome mind a curfew. In fact, setting a worry curfew is simpler than you think – here are five steps you can take to make yours:
- Write down everything that’s on your mind. It could be anything from the washing you haven’t hung out yet or a deadline at work that’s creeping up. Jot it all down (no matter how big or small) on a piece of paper.
- Take a moment to think about each problem as rationally as you can. If you can think of ways to solve or mitigate a worry, write down the solution beside each one.
- Take 10 minutes in total and then assess your list again. Now you’ve thought about each of your worries in depth, cross out what no longer seems as problematic to you.
- Take a new piece of paper and write down the problems that you managed to solve during your allocated worry time, then screw up the original piece of paper and throw it away. Just the act of doing this will help settle your mind.
- Keep your list somewhere safe for you to look at the next day, to help action some of those solutions.
