When your mind is running, your body is activated, and your trauma feels like it is living in your dreams, getting a good night sleep is critical. Here are three ways to get better sleep when you are living with PTSD.
De-Stimulate, De-Stress
Volumes of research have proven that interacting with digital devices stimulates the brain in a way similar to drugs like cocaine. Additionally, the blue light behind the screens of digital devices negatively influences the brain’s natural circadian rhythm by simulating sunlight. Using devices late at night stimulates the brain in a way that makes deep, restful sleep more difficult to achieve. The more you stimulate your brain before sleep, the more stressed your system becomes in trying to rest. Of course, the stimulation has an appeal, which is why many people use their digital devices late into the night. Part of the stimulation comes from the production of a brain chemical called dopamine, which sends messages of pleasure throughout the brain. Though the pleasure makes using digital devices feel like a mind numbing, pleasure creating, escape mechanism, the use causes more stress and strain to the entire system.
Try Guided Meditation
Recent research has revealed the meditation may not always be safe for people living with PTSD or who have unresolved trauma. Quiet stillness with unbridled access to the inner workings of one’s mind can lead to triggers and unknown areas that one isn’t ready to find. Guided meditations are a helpful tool for gaining the benefits of meditation at the sound of someone else’s direction. Meditation is a proven technique for letting go of stress in mind and body to obtain better sleep. Meditation directly reverses the effects of stress and helps to calm the mind in a comprehensive way. More importantly, meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which deactivates the sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is where trauma lives, activating the fight or flight response which can keep symptoms of trauma alive, even in sleep.
Practice Self Care
Everyone experiences trauma in their life, but everyone will be affected by trauma differently. Likewise, everyone has a need for self care. How people feel the most taken care of by themselves is different for everyone. Trauma treatment and therapy can help you find what it is you need to feel taken care of, safe, and relaxed. Practicing self-care helps you feel settled and calm, which are highly sought after states of being when living with trauma.
The Guest House Ocala specializes in the treatment of trauma, addictions, and related mental health issues like anxiety. Everyone has a story. If you are living with unmanageable anxiety as a result of trauma it is critical for you to know, you are not alone. Help is available. You can and you will recover. Call us today for information on our custom plans of treatment and our private luxury care: 1-855-483-7800