Scared

leeCal

Doing a PhD is hard hard work, my son did one in neuroscience and he was greatly challenged by it all. His sleep suffered too but he battled on, he also thought he had mental health problems because the stress of the PhD brought that out in him. He did seek some help from his GP and privately and it did help some, but what helped the most by far was finishing his PhD! However he soon swapped his stress over that to stress over a relationship, he’s just that kind of person unfortunately. He is mentally stronger than he thinks though and I’ll bet you are too @JoOfVengerberg.

meditation is a good idea before bed time, especially counting meditation. Count one on the out breath, two etc up to ten and then repeat, it works if your stressed because you concentrate lightly on the number that you’re on. You could even visualise the numbers as you breath gently in and out. While doing this it should be hard or harder to think about anything else but your breath. It works for me anyway. Hope this helps a little. 🙂 good luck with the PhD.

Starlingbird

A good pre-bedtime routine (even if it's just an hour or so) might help to train your mind to calm down. Things such as a hot bath, avoidance of mentally stimulating 'stuff' (internet, T.V. news, etc) or anything else that jiggles your brain! I find crafts very relaxing, even one of those colouring books, just something that you can focus on.

I sometimes have problems staying asleep and wake in the night, then the ruminating starts....then I worry that I am going to be exhausted the next day, which causes me even more stress! I find that getting up and re-setting my bedtime routine helps (for me this is a hot drink, small snack and some Sudoku). I also focus on the back of my physical brain - that's a bit hard to explain, but I try to picture it and feel it and it seems to stop the whizzy thoughts going round. 

We all have different things that help us, I suppose it's trial and error! 

Starlingbird

Ada said:

@Starlingbird I have been this way for many years and tried everything there is. I have been taking very strong prescription sleepers for far to long they don’t work anymore but I would be quite ill if I now stopped taking them All they do now is give me x2 hours sleep and that’s all the sleep I have to live on every single day. 

How are you I am thinking of you 
@JoOfVengerberg

That must be exhausting, @Ada. I really feel for you. Have you spoken to your GP about your meds not working anymore?

Do you have any night time routines that help you relax? Sleep is such a precious thing, isn't it? There are so many things that can disrupt it! 

leeCal

Sleep really is a precious thing. We need less as we get older but still, two hours is a very small amount. 

JoOfVengerberg

I am just catching up now, thank you @Alex_Scope @leeCal @Starlingbird @Ada. It means a lot that you all care. I haven't managed it tonight as I've been chatting with a friend and we tend to lose track, but at least there's no catastrophising this evening. I have just booked 2 dinner reservations for my trip next week, I have a lot to do beforehand (tidy room, collect some supplies/food, pack etc.) but I am so looking forward to it. I have also just finished my 3rd chapter of the novel I'm writing for the PhD, so I can send that off as well. I really do need to try and sleep earlier tomorrow/sunday/monday though as I catch the coach at 7:25am!!

Oxonlady

Hi @JoOfVengerberg, there's nothing wrong with you. You can see that I'm replying to you at 2.31am, so my sleeping pattern is also messed up, but I no longer let it bother me. It's the only way my brain can cope with my various health conditions.
If "everything feels like a mess", it means that you are feeling overwhelmed. The best way I cope with overwhelment is to stop and try to untangle the "mess" into the main or more troublesome components. It's a little like unravelling wool that's got mixed up with one or more other wool balls. You can write down what's bothering you. I'll give you an example. The last few days, I've needed to order some books from Greece. But I keep coming across problems. The Greek order form online has no way to add postage to the UK. It will not accept my address in the UK. At the same time, I needed to re-order some items on an American online shop which had sent me items all in the wrong sizes last week.
Also, I've been meaning to lodge an Appeal to my local Council who rejected my insurance claim for something that happened 10 months ago. To top it all, I have to keep asking Social Services for more Care Hours and trying to find caring Carers. So you can imagine how big and tangled my ball of knotted wool is! 
I've made a note of each problem and underneath each heading, I've made notes on what steps I need to take to resolve each issue, one at a time. 
Everything seems much clearer now and I have a list of specific tasks that I need to do. And I have the weekend to relax so I can tackle everything more calmly on Monday. 
And by the time I've written all this, which has taken me around 25 minutes I'm now sleepy! I expect you will be too, after reading this long post! Sleep well! 

JoOfVengerberg

Thank you @Oxonlady!!! I hope you aren't too overwhelmed and things go smoothly

Oxonlady

Hi @JoOfVengerberg,I had to rest a lot today as I had chest pain as well, so I'll deal with all the challenges on Monday.

Your thesis sounds very interesting! 
I would have liked to do a PhD on chronic pain and how it leads to physical and cognitive problems, such as significantly decreased concentration, attention and memory. Of course you then have the problems of reduced ability to mobilise and exercise. Does this have an effect on circulation? It's a fascinating subject and I'm actually living with constant pain, so I understand what is involved. I know in addition, that there's a great need for more effective pain relief. 
There, have I put you to sleep yet? 

All the best to you, wishing you a better night and lovelier thoughts.