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Change overload

Hope

Right now I am exhausted after losing control and screaming for half an hour, hitting hands against bannister, stamping feet, getting worked up into a state. The reason for this outburst was the announcement that my brother is moving home after two years away because he is splitting up with his girlfriend, and I can't deal with the change. mY brother works shifts and often arrives home late, which will wake me up because I am a really, really, really light sleeper. My dad will get me some good ear-plugs but no plugs have this far worked, so I am sceptical. I have a strict bedtime routine, I can't tolerate being woken up because I suffer from severe anxiety associated with nightime disturbance - I have a schedule that has to be abided by. I feel so stressed now, I hate, hate, hate change, so what can I do to make things easier for myself?

  • I would try maybe the white noise effect and keep a TV on low volume on in your bedroom? That may mask some of the external noises, plus the ear plugs? I am a light sleeper too so know how irritating that can be. 

    I worked an overnight shift once and came home at 7am just when my parents were waking up. It drove me crazy when they made noise all day when I was trying to sleep. 

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Hi Hope,

    Can you imagine that it is even possible for you to learn how to tolerate change better?

  • Hi Hope, not sure I can help much.  Agree about ear plugs: I only tried them once. They didn't cut out high pitched sounds, which made those sounds more noticeable and annoying.  And they were uncomfortable!

    Some people find it works for them to deliberately split their sleep into two blocks. Apparently for most of history humans slept that way: it only changed to a straight 8 hours when street lighting came in. I've tried it and it was great, but I work irregular hours so it didn't fit with that grrrrr. If it worked for you, maybe you could plan to get up and spend some time with your brother when he comes in?

    Here's an article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16964783

    Also, people tend to cycle through light and deep sleep over about an hour and a half (exact time varies from person to person). It might help if you time things so that you'll be at the end of a cycle when you are going to get disturbed.  If I have to set my alarm early I always try and at least sleep multiples of 90 minutes and it helps for me.

    Not tried one myself, but I've heard white noise makers can help some people by drowning out disturbing noises.