Health

Talkspace is Helping Users Find Peace on Sleepless Nights

Insomnia and related issues are an unpleasant reality for far too many people. There are tons of reasons that we have trouble sleeping, but stress and anxiety are two very common culprits of insomnia that can make getting those all important zzz’s seem impossible. At Talkspace, a trusted, reputable online therapy provider, they understand just how important sleep is to proper mental functioning, cognitive functioning, and your ability to enjoy your life.

There are many reasons that people have trouble sleeping, but a common problem seems to be an inability to calm the mind when one lays down to sleep. Your head hits the pillow and suddenly you’re making mental to-do lists for tomorrow, worrying about something you have to do next week, fretting about something you said to a friend, and so on. You literally cannot turn your mind off and it can seem like the more you try, the worse the problem actually becomes. The experts at Talkspace understand the frustration of missed sleep, and the toll it can have on your life, especially if it is a regular occurrence.

For some people, sleep issues creep up on them without them really expecting it. For others, it can be big life changes like a move, new job, marriage, child, and more that lead to excessive worrying that makes it almost impossible to calm your mind and get the rest you so desperately need. The therapists at Talkspace have heard clients mention how they feel their brain is “out to get them” or that their mind really becomes active as soon as they try to get to sleep.

And yes, restless nights are a problem. Sleep is a time during which your body recovers and takes part in biological and physiological processes that are vital to our overall health and wellbeing. A lack of sleep is also associated with higher levels of stress and an increased risk of getting sick. It can also cause issues with a lack of ability to focus, cognitive cloudiness, and more. All of these things, Talkspace notes, have the potential to dramatically decrease your quality of life.

Thankfully, there are some solutions to this age-old problem, from simple lifestyle changes that can help you get to sleep faster with less stress, to therapy from a trusted mental health provider. Talkspace provides a  space and opportunity to talk about the things that might be bothering you and to get your fears and issues out in the open. Then you can begin to look for healthy and positive solutions to these issues and to try to find ways to keep them from negatively impacting your life quite so much.

Seeking the help of a qualified mental health provider from a platform like Talkspace can be an excellent way to obtain some peace and calm in your life, allowing you to get to the underlying issues of your stress and what is keeping your mind reeling at night. A lot of times, simply talking to an objective, trained, and understanding professional can provide for us some mental clarity and a look at the problems bearing down on us and allow us to see ways to better cope with the rigors of our life.

However, in addition to seeking online therapy from Talkspace, there are also some things that you can do at home that have been shown to be highly effective, helping people calm their minds and get some sleep at night, rather than tossing and turning and worrying until dawn.

Firstly, creating a sleep “hygiene” routine is a really helpful thing. Basically, this means creating a bedtime routine that helps to best cultivate sleep. Don’t bring your phone to bed, don’t keep the television on, try to establish a routine of getting ready for bed and winding down at a specific time as this will help to “train” your body to start to wind down for sleep at a specific time, rather than being so all over the place.

It can also be really helpful to simply write down what is bothering you. What are the thoughts that are keeping you up at night? What specific issues are you worried about? Write them down. This gives you valuable information to go on as the areas of your life that are causing you stress and making it difficult to sleep are good indications of where you might need to make adjustments, changes, or otherwise work to mitigate the stress of the situation if at all possible.

Another really helpful way of achieving calm on a stressful, sleepless night is to take part in targeted breathing exercises. Focusing on just your breathing, slowly inhaling and exhaling, and trying your best to give that simple activity your full attention can do wonders. As the therapists at Talkspace note, not only does this physically help to calm you down by lowering your heart rate, but it also has you focusing so intensely on your breathing that much of your stress will begin to melt away, allowing you the calm and peace you need for a good night’s rest.