I've been home from war for two years & I still cant sleep!

You lay awake at night and can’t sleep. You’re restless and feel tired during the day. Nightmares wake you up. You’re unable to go back to sleep. Are sleeping problems making it hard for you to get through the day? Sometimes trouble sleeping is a result of a traumatic experience or stressful event in your military or civilian life. Other times, negative thoughts or worry might make it hard to fall asleep or cause you to wake up easily during the night. Trouble falling asleep may be due to anxiety about having nightmares, or from thoughts focused on life challenges. Chronic pain, stomach problems, alcohol or drug use, or other physical ailments also might disturb your sleep. Inadequate sleep over time can lead to chronic sleep deprivation, which will significantly affect your health, performance, and safety.

Good sleep is important for overall good health. The amount of sleep each person needs varies, but seven to nine hours of sleep is ideal for most adults. To feel well rested, your body also needs to go through a series of sleep stages. When those sleep stages are interrupted, you may feel especially tired or have trouble concentrating the next day.

“I used to fall asleep so easily during my deployment, even with all the loud noises and 24/7 commotion, but now that I’m back and in a quiet, comfortable bedroom, I just can’t seem to fall asleep at night.”

Some Veterans don’t realize their trouble sleeping is affecting their day-to-day functioning or that their sleeping problems are treatable. Symptoms of sleep deprivation and other sleep problems include:

• Having a hard time falling or staying asleep
• Having a hard time staying awake during the day
• Feeling tired even after getting lots of sleep

Allowing your sleeping problems to go unchecked may lead to accidents or make it harder to deal with stress, solve problems, or recover from sickness or injury. Sleep problems can impact your life at home and at work, as well as your relationships. In addition to feeling tired, trouble sleeping can be associated with:

• Slower reaction times or bad judgment
• Irritability and moodiness
• Less motivation
• Memory and concentration problems
• Difficulty making decisions

If I’m having trouble sleeping, what can I do about it?
“I used to have a drink every night to get to sleep. One day my friend dug out a week’s worth of empty liquor bottles from the trash and put them on the table for me to see. It was right then I decided to stop self-medicating to get to sleep and address the issue once and for all.”

There are several things you can do right away to improve your sleep. Try to remember to:

• Keep your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool
• Make your bedroom a place just for sleeping and not a place for other activities like watching television, reading, working on the computer, or listening to the radio
• Create a relaxing bedtime routine
• Stick to a sleep schedule, making sure you wake up close to the same time every day
• Get outside and exercise daily (but not close to bedtime)
• Take medications that might delay or disrupt your sleep earlier in the day
• Avoid caffeine and nicotine
• Avoid alcohol before bed or drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
• Avoid large meals and beverages late at night

Your close friends and family may notice that trouble sleeping is affecting your quality of life. Turn to them when you are ready to look for solutions to your sleep problems. It can be helpful to share what you’re experiencing, and they may be able to provide support as you look for ways to improve your sleep.

*Please note the Military Veteran Project does not endorse the AtEase study, merely sharing information for veterans and families to become educated on the correlation and options to participate.   Currently, the Military Veteran Project is working with hundreds of veterans to treat Post Traumatic Stress with alternative therapies and treatments while conducting research for Traumatic Brain Injury.  To learn more visit WHY WE EXIST - Together, we know we can make a difference and save lives.