Tuesday, March 15, 2011

It's a tough job...


Even though daytime blogging is hard for me to do, I'm going to give it a try. I was planning on taking a nap, but the phone rang and that got me right out of my bed again. I'm not going back to it and I'm saving my sleep for tonight instead. I made a deal with my psychiatrist and my SPN that I was seriously going to change my sleeping habits and not get up in the middle of the night anymore to stay up for a couple of hours and blog. 

My psychiatrist is also prescribing another sleeping pill that will help me sleep through the night instead of what I have now that only helps me fall asleep. I have no problems falling asleep. As a matter of fact, I'm asleep ten minutes after I lie down in bed. It's staying asleep that's the problem. Hopefully these pills will help me. Unfortunately, the pharmacy didn't have them in supply and has to order them, so I won't have them until tomorrow. That's a bit of a disappointment, but I will have to be patient for another night. 

I get up in the middle of the night because I think it's exciting to blog then. I usually have a very good mood and a bit of a high. I think that the posts that I write then are much more exciting than the posts that I write during the day. This could all be an illusion and I came to realize that this past night. I was artificially pepping myself up with coffee and creating a hypo-manic state for myself to exist in. I thought I was writing down very significant things, but they really amounted to nothing at all. 

I want to stop doing this foolishness in the middle of the night and just sleep through it like ordinary people do. I want to go to bed at night knowing that I will wake up feeling refreshed in the morning because I've had enough sleep. 

I discussed feeling depressed with my psychiatrist and how you can choose to ignore those thoughts and feelings once you realize that you have them because you're depressed. You don't have to give any credence to them and they don't have to overwhelm you. You can choose not to sit in them, but put them in a pile beside you and leave them there for you to look at now and then when you feel up to it. 

You would not have most of those thoughts and feelings if you felt well. If you were in a healthy state of mind. Most of them you have because you see your life through very negatively colored glasses. That is, if you've worked through enough of the baggage that you carry around with you because of everything that's happened to you in your life. If you walk around with old unresolved grief, you'll have to take care of it. 

In spite of my good intentions, I am tired and I'll have to go to bed early tonight. I'll walk Tyke one more time and eat dinner and get my pajamas on. I'll vegetate in front of the television for a while and watch nothing important whatsoever. You do have to have times like that too. I'm sure there will be something like that on. There usually is. 
Have a good evening.

Ciao,
Nora






6 comments:

Bev said...

I think you are right about the negative thoughts you get cascading through your mind when you are depressed. Usually one leads to another in a downward spiral.

I have the same problem myself but am going for cognitive behavioral therapy with a pyschologist which is helping me think more positively.

Incidentally I think you are quite good at postive thinking as you often demonstrate in your postings!

CorvusCorax12 said...

i hope you get a good night sleep. I'm like you i fall asleep easily enough but by about 4 or 5 am if i wake up my mind starts to race an i get up. I don't nap though.

Maggie May said...

Yes, I'm like you. I fall asleep easily enough....... its just that I don't stay asleep.I don't get up though, I listen to the radio.
Hope you break the habit soon.
I like what your psychiatrist said.

We had a glorious day here.
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Irene said...

Twain, you do a fairly good job sleeping and it's good that you don't take naps. That's the best way to go. I'm going to try not to do that either. I think it will help me sleep better at night, Thanks for the tip.

XOX

Irene said...

Bev, cognitive therapy is very good. I've had it in the past and it helped me a lot. I hope it will help you too. It's very much worth the effort.

XOX

Bernie said...

I have problems my friend but one of them isn't about sleeping for sure, I sleep through the night and get at least 7 hours sometimes more. I don't take naps very often either.
Hope you slept well, the walks you take with Tyke should help a bit.
We had another sunny day today after the fog burned off. Spring is in the air, I can actually smell it.......:-)Hugs