I am currently struggling heavily with depression. Which impacts my quality of sleep. Sleep now has never been a talent of mine. So I generally make up for it by napping. I used to absolutely love it. Both the initial and the waking up (feeling well rested). But lately the waking up part is getting more and more difficult. It then feels like someone hung an anchor on my mental health. I am at that point in absolute disarray and so depressed it makes me feel anxious it’s so bad.
This may be above lemmy’s pay grade but still here goes. Should I stop taking naps? Also I’m thinking of taking antidepressants, anyone here have any experience?
Edit: Thank you all for the replies. I currently in talks with a therapist about taking antidepressants. For the mean time I have found that if when I wake up from a nap and just immediately get out of bed and go into the other room. It helps alleviate the “depressional” fall out that would normally follow.
Constant urges to nap and trouble getting up afterwards are both common (but in no way definitive) symptoms of depression. Definitely above Lemmy’s pay grade - you need to talk to a doctor/therapist. Absolutely do not take antidepressants without consulting them.
They’re also common symptoms of Apnea which is definitely something you should look at getting tested for!
I like short coffee naps. It makes it really easy to get up afterwards. I’d only recommend it if you are able to fall asleep almost instantly though.
Basically you chug a cup of coffee and then nap, setting an alarm for 20-30m. Once you get woken up the coffee will be mostly in your system and you’ll feel really refreshed.
I do a 6-10 minute nap, it doesn’t even feel long enough, but it’s enough to feel more alert and not mess up sleep later that night.
I combine it with a light alarm. I have smart lights that I have hooked up to an automation. The automation turns off the lights, sets an alarm for 25 minutes, and turns the lights back on at 24 minutes. That gives me a bit more of a slide into wakefulness.
I’ve also taken to drinking tea throughout the day for a steady drip of caffeine. In the morning I brew up a big pot, then stick it in an insulated carafe to stay hot for the day. I’ve found it’s easier on my body than coffee.
Nice yeah coffee isn’t always the play for me either for that reason. I like Yerba mate and white/green tea too
Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to give Yerba mate a try. I’ve been staying away from green tea for the most part because apparently it’s pretty bad about tooth stains.
Consider a sleep study. I found out I have sleep apnea this way, and did a follow up study with a CPAP machine where I just felt 100x better rested than usual. Ask your doctor for a referral.
Definitely seek professional help as others have suggested, but in the meantime, try to sleep in increments of about an hour and a half. 7 and a half is a good target. It’ll ensure you wake up out of light sleep and not during deep sleep which is super rough. If you take a nap, an hour to an hour and a half should be the max. Anything beyond that will have you groggy for a while.
Yep, and notably - add 15 minutes, because that’s about how long it takes to fall asleep on average. You can use sleepyti.me as a calculator if you’re lazy like me and want to know when to go to bed
I am bi-polar. After positive changes in my life, I was living medication-free. During 2020, I resisted admitting to myself that I was horribly depressed because I didn’t want it to be real. When I finally got back on an anti-depressant, I could have kicked my own ass for waiting so long. See a doctor now. Depression can be treated and you might not need the meds forever. Get help.
My bi-polar also causes sleep issues. I take a medication for that, too. You might need the same. But lest you think I think pills are the answer to all problems, first stop taking naps and try to get more exercise to help with sleep.
But see someone about your depression. There’re solutions. Depression is the worst hell and it isn’t required.
may be worth talking to your doctor about testing for sleep apnea or other sleep disorders
i’ve had bad sleep all my life and recently got tested. turns out i have nothing diagnosable but at least now i know it’s a skill issue i guess lol
raising the head of my bed helped somewhat as i have mild acid reflux. it’s as simple as shoving some pillows and/or old clothes under the top third of your mattress so worth a try, nothing to lose.
best of luck fellow sleepyhead
I don’t have advice, but I hear you, I see you, and I love you. ❤️
I was in similar situation, where I would sleep off daytime, then it messed up my sleep schedule for years. I got better once I realized that I am a zombie in that state. I advise going for a walk. Try to go a bit further every day. Just stop outside, it’s funny to go home instantly, so have to walk for a minute. The this has two benefits - cardio on fresh air is good for physical health and makes you tired for the night, and for me it brought relief from mental pressure and gave space that I am safe to think about difficult stuff. There is something in act of moving that help with the head. It’s also nice anchor - you are in control of his much you walk, where you walk, just do it, like guy from memes.
Be kind to yourself <3
Usually the recommendation is to take short, no longer than 30 minutes naps. Supposedly, after 30 minutes you go into deep sleep and waking up will make you feel tired. I haven’t reviewed the scientific validity of the claims, but it has always worked for me.
What works for me is: lay down and relax, close your eyes, but try to not fall asleep, think about stuff you did, about stuff you want to do, whatever, just don’t fall asleep. If you manage to maintain a good balance between not relaxing too much and not stressing too much (that’s the tricky part), you’ll stay in a semi-awake state. Rest like this for 20-30 minutes and you should feel better
That’s an intriguing idea.
It probably explains why napping works for me - that little bastard in my head pulling the strings takes forever to sit down and shut up, so I kind of nap like this already. It takes most of 20 minutes before he sits down, I barely fall asleep and my alarm goes off.
Yep. Either take a 15 or 25 minute nap, or go for the full sleep cycle of about 1-1,5 hours.
Read up on sleep cycles and how long your body likes to nap! If you wake up from deep sleep you are groggy for a long time after.
I routinely get hammered till late but as long as I sleep 3, 4.5, 6 hours specifically, I’m fine. Even if I have 4 hours ahead of me, I wake myself up after 3 to snooze and not go into a deep sleep.
There’s a similar timing for naps.
Edit: I’m 35, that probably matters in context
I have a sleep disorder. I can no longer nap, have alcohol (at all), caffeine after 9am, and so on.
I also love napping and have napped my entire life when possible until recently.
Since I can’t nap anymore without ruining my sleep I now sit or lay quietly with my eyes closed and just rest. I set an alarm for 5-10 minutes and snooze for a few minutes over and over until I “get up”. I never really fall asleep so (reluctantly) ending this rest period is not that hard.
This doesn’t give you that same rested feeling but I can destress, lower anxiety, and so on. This absolutely has led to me sleeping more deeply at night, getting drowsy before bed, etc.
A little like meditation but mostly just taking a break.
I’m not an expert, but I think you should consider talking with a therapist about it. Talking to someone can be a great way to work through things and feel better. They can offer a listening ear and different perspectives.
Regarding the sleep, consistency is quite important. Your body operates on a biological schedule and is important to your health. During the day try spending some time outdoors, normalize your meals times and limit coffee in the afternoon. Also avoid all-nighter and at late night reduce lighting and (this one is hard for me too) avoiding to use electronic devices (phone, pc, tv, ecc) during bed time.
Regarding antidepressants: I was on them for a number of years and I’d say they’re a stopgap to keep you surviving until you can finally tackle the problem once and for all with something therapy. They make you feel very grey, assuming there’s no side-effects, which can be anywhere between mildly amusing to headwrecking. But of course, grey is lighter than black, and on the other hand, I’ve known people who’ve been taking antidepressants for decades. I’m ridiculously self-disciplined so I often find it relatively easy to rationalise ruminations away but some aren’t so lucky. So I agree with the others saying you should ask a doctor about it. I spoke to my GP about it to begin with.
If you are looking for a scientific approach try listening to Andrew Huberman’s 6-part series all about sleep with Dr Matt Walker.
Link to episode 1 on youtube, its also on Spotify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OBCwiPPfEU
Huberman’s Sleep Toolkit: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter/toolkit-for-sleep
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://www.piped.video/watch?v=-OBCwiPPfEU
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Try to time your naps so that you are waking up at the correct part of your sleep cycle… I think the average time of a full cycle is ~90 min for most people, so if you set an alarm for 1.5 or 3 hours (or any other increment of 90 min) it shouldn’t feel as bad to wake up.
Same thing goes for sleeping at night as well.
