Do you always find yourself difficult to fall asleep because you can’t “switch off” your brain when you’re in bed?
I used to experience that. At night I felt sleepy and went to bed, but my brain was unable to stop thinking about a whole lot of things - ideas to implement for home business, a list of house chores to complete the next day, family obligations to attend to, money issues to be settled, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, etc. By the time I got to the money issue, all the sudden the sleeping bug had left me. My mind became alert, and worse, more thoughts were flooding in like Tsunami. I felt even tired the next day, and had to rely on coffee to get through the day. And excess caffeine caused more sleeping problems at night. It’s a vicious cycle!
Is this what you are going through, too?
Only recently I knew that this is a rather common condition among women. Written in an article in the Malaysian Women’s Weekly May issue, this condition is known as ‘hyperarousal’. This usually occurs in women who have to juggle between work and family, and possibly other roles in the community, and who tend to be perfectionists.
As I read the article, I can relate my previous self to some of the conditions, e.g. constantly telling myself to hurry up, there’s a lot more to do, felt guilty if I don’t fill my time with work. As a result of this hyperarousal condition, stress and anxiety develops. Other health problems such as skin problems, teeth grinding and stomach discomfort may become apparent.
Well, may be mine was just a mild case. I just noticed skin problems erupting and had irregular bowel movements. In more severe cases, a person may develop panic attacks, depression, chronic fatigue and insomnia.
Hyperarousal is not a condition limited to career women with a family to take care; even work-from-home moms may suffer from this, because they have as many, if not more, issues to handle - home business, kids, husband, cooking, cleaning, parents in law, friends….
So, don’t be shocked if you start noticing yourself to show one of the symptoms of hyperarousal. But you should be afraid if you are not doing anything about it.
There are several things that you can do to help yourself slow down and have a good night rest. Some of the suggestions mentioned in the article include:
- Focus on slowing down even if you are on the go. Try belly breathing regularly, as this exercise help you remain relaxed.
- Know your limits, set realistic, achievable goals.
- Set a sleep routine, use bed only for sleep and not for checking e-mails on your PDA or reading next day’s business agenda.
- Cut down on caffeine, eat healthily.
- Exercise regularly, but avoid doing strenuous exercise just before going to bed. Stop doing exercise 2 hours before going to sleep.
- Relax before bedtime; try using herbal remedies such as applying lavender based lotion after your shower, or put a few drops of lavender oil on your pillow. Lavender is known to have relaxing and calming properties.
- If you really can’t fall asleep after half an hour, don’t force it. Get out of bed and do something quiet, such as reading, until you’re sleepy and ready to go to bed.
Good night, sleep tight. 
