Insomnia

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Lately I've been noticing that a large majority of teenagers assume they have insomnia. What doesn't make any sense to me is that they're so proud of it; I often hear things like "Oh, yeah man, it was great I was up until like 1am." Its...not great.It sounds like they're just forcing themselves to stay up for some odd reason, and besides...1am is nothing. I'm also 15...hence very much a teen, but I'm not happy with my unhealthy habits.
I really, really like sleeping but for the past year or so I'm up until 4am ever other night or so worrying. I come online or read just so I don't need to lay in bed and think.
So, calling all insomniacs....what do you do to get to sleep eventually? Its almost five in the morning and I have work tommorow. Also, is anyone annoyed by or noticing the steadily growing Insomnia-Pride amongst teens?

 

I've never thought of it as insomnia, but I'm awake most of the night (3-4 am last night), and sleep until late in the morning, if I get half a chance. The same goes for all my friends. I think it's just a common teenage thing to do it, and anyone who claims to have it (I'm reffering more to Insomnia-proud teens your angered with) is a berk.

 

I know what you mean...but you want to be up(I'm assuming), and you have nowhere to go early the next morning. Lucky

 

Nah, its not that i want to be up, but i usually just lie in bed untill i fall asleep, it depends on what ive been doing that day which determines how long i lie there before actually falling asleep, say if ive had a long da of football then ill fall asleep easy, but if ive just been sitting around then it will be 2-3 hours before i fall asleep, and that usually means im falling asleep about 2-3 in the morning on a good day.

 

In the US, it's mostly considered "productive" if you cannot sleep. The phrase "sleep is over-rated" is a joke in the same manner an Ethiopian might say "I dropped it on the ground, so I had to throw it away". It hits me from time to time, but not all that often. I can generally pass out anywhere;

It's not just teens that have the issue. It's fairly common in adults. Most likely some sub-conscious work going on in there, as our society needs a lot of work.

 

It's not growing; it has always been so. Teens do anything to gain rights to brag to their friends, so I wouldn't be too worried about it.

 

I read the title and thought you were talking about one of my favourite tunes by Faithless!

 

Not really, I have to get up for college now and I find it really difficult to get to sleep by even 11pm if I've been up at 7am but it doesn't bother me as much as it does you, I think.

 

Meh... typically I've found how hard it is to fall asleep, is linearily (sp?) inversed with how active you've been during the day.
When I had vacations, I'd sleep in till 11 to 13 hours and slack all day, and I could happily go on till dawn...
Now that I'm back in school, and active everyday, I'll get tired by 12PM, 1AM...
I don't know if you're sporty or if school is demanding for you, but if neither, just Get Active... and don't go to bed unless you really feel tired.
There are always fun or productive things to do, and generally you (as in, most teens) just waste lot's of time in bed anyhow...
Also, *force* yourself to get up early if you really want to sleep by the evening, and if it isn't enough, get up even earlier and do extra excercise in the time you got up earlier.
As an added bonus, you'll wake up much better if you start the day with half an hour of excercise, and a good breakfast.
I'll also assume that you don't drink lot's of tea/coffee prior to going to bed.
Furthermore, I've had fits of trouble getting to sleep myself sometimes, and warm milk with a spoon of honey does really make you very sleepy (ingestion only).
Well, if it didn't work, I can think up of some more stuff, but I hate having to read an entire novel, so I'll try to keep it limited here for y'all

 

being a teen myself, i will concede that this is proably true but i've never heard of insomnia-pride. i dont think its common over here as most people my age take a frickin valium or 5 to knock em out. Myself, im an insomniac too, cant, as in, its impossible for me to sleep early unless i am totally physically exhausted. so i read a lot and post a bit, but its not something im proud of. i wish i could sleep earlier. sometimes, i have to avoid looking at my cellphone to see what time it is bec. if i see that its 5am and i have to wake up at 6am to get to a 7am test, its going to demoralize my ass.

 

I also find that eating bananas makes you sleepy

 

Try to beat it now while your still young and can organize your schedule a bit. My body is so used to being a night owl that I find I can NOT get to sleep until 1-3am and need to get up 3-6am depending on the day..it is not good and every few dayus I burn out and become severely moody and crash hard. Tried everything to help sleep come and find the ear plugs and total darkness now help a lot, but still have some difficulty.

 

Well I'm not proud of it I wish I could have more normal nights of sleep...

I just worry about a lot of things and I think that is what keeps me awake...

Because when I'm happy or drunk or both I sleep like a rose...

 

I don't understand insomnia. In the evenings I get tired and sleepy and wouldn't be able to stay awake if I tried. If you are really having problems sleeping, get yourself a baby. One or two nights of lugging that little monster around trying to get HIM to sleep and you'll be so tired, you'll sleep anywhere.

 

I think when people have a lack of sleep on a regular basis as well as a lot of stress in their life emotions can sometimes get out of hand. Hearing somebody making light of a situation that is seriously effecting someone else might be very irritating to that person.

I wouldn't agree that the majority of teenagers have insomnia and are proud of it. Young people often have a lot more freedom because they don't yet have to support a family, pay a morgage, worry about ageing parents etc. (Don't read me wrong here. I know there are also a considerable amount of teenagers who have a lot of serious issues to deal with.) The freedoms that they have make it a lot easier to stay up late. The "insomnia" that they are describing may not actually be insomnia but just habits. They get used to staying up late and having fun possibly drinking coffee or taking other substances that are stimulents. They also might enjoy computer and video gameing which often takes people into the wee hours. There are a lot of more interesting things to do than sleep when you are young.

I think there are also a lot of teenagers who go to bed at a normal time and get up at a normal time as well. It all depends on the person. Everyone is unique. To say that a large majority of teenagers have insomnia and brag about it is too far of a generalization.

* Harbourboy - Your statement about the lack of sleep when you have a new baby is soooooooo true!

 

Well, I guess I suffer from insomnia to a degree but it's mostly due to a lot of stress that I have to deal with so I usually just lie in bed in the dark listening to music, I sometimes read in bed which tires my eyes at night or play video games to tire my eyes, or failing all else I keep myself awake and try to knock my body-clock back into proper gear. That last usually works.

 

I feel we must seperate 2 things here.. it's not insomnia if you force yourself to be awake til 01.00-03.00 when you have to go to school/work at 7-8 in the morning, they're called B-persons. B-persons are very tired if awaken before they wake up naturally, and in the evening they do not feel the need to sleep (even though their body needs it) they dont feel tired, people with insomnia don't have to be b-persons (though most are). Insomnia is considered an illness sort of.

Now from what you say it doesn't seem to be such a very bad case. You say you worry, or think about stuff that worries you when you try yo sleep. This seems curable enough, and if you're unable to help yourself there probably are many psychiatrists that can help you not to mention happy-pills, sleeping-pills, sleeping light, sleeping-smelling-herb etc

As for the insomnia bragging trend, yes i've noticed it a bit.. meny teens are proud of staying up to 2-3 every night when getting up again 7 in the morning.

 

Well, when I was young, it was a question of the day not having enough hours to do all i wanted to do... and, of course, good movies and tv shows being so bloody late. I distinctly recall thinking (I was all of 14 at the time, iirc... no, younger...) that I had four hours to sleep, that's a lot.

I think people confuse wilfull wakieabouting with insomnia... is not insomnia all about not being ABLE to sleep, even if you wanted? It's the willfull wakeabouting that the kids liek to brag about.

or words to that effect anyway... I am one of those b-people, t seems, or at least at otal weirdo since I nowadays seem to klive a 36-hour day

 

i'm 18 years old and i dunno if you folk would consider it angsty whining, but i've considered myself to suffer from some form or another of insomnia for many years.

i dunno why, its just that whenever i go to bed, on a good night it'll take me a good 3 hours to get to sleep.

other times i just lie awake all night with loads of random crap going through my mind and it keeps me awake all night, after a while it puts you into a strange state, you get this intense kinda stare that nobody else has.... maybe i'm just a crank.

usually i go to bed at about 2-4am without even trying to be awake, i simply dont feel tiredness much at all.... i have to force myself to sleep 99 times out of 100 (to take into account those rare occasions when i become exceptionally exausted and sleep for 12 hours like a log).

meh, its no fun, i get pissed off every night with not being able to sleep.... maybe someone could tell me whats wrong with whats going on with my sleep, i hope it isn't insomnia, because i heard it continues to worsen as life goes on.

 

No longer a teen and well, had insomnia before I was a teen. It was no fun, waiting in the bed for several hours to fall asleep, sometimes not falling asleep at all and just lying there for the whole night. Eh. It improved in my early teens but later my bad habits entered the stage. Just look at the date of news items on SP's frontpage and you'll see what I mean. But pride? Heh, doesn't one have better reasons to be proud... or better things to do than bragging, in the first place?