I'm wondering if you could help me with something. At night, I get slightly paranoid and it becomes incredibly hard to sleep. I have once ended up going to shut the window because I thought someone would crawl through (I don't know why) and then opening it ten minutes later because it gets too hot and then do that in a cycle for ages. It also causes me to get nightmares which trouble me at school... Any tips?
Sam
Hi there,
Getting good sleep is really important because not getting enough of it can affect everything we do the next day. There are things we can do to help ourselves feel more comfortable at night time so that we get the sleep we need.
Having fears and worries at night time is common. We can feel vulnerable and when we're alone at night we have time to overthink things. Our instincts can kick in and tell us that its not safe, even when theres no reason to worry. This fear can come in all kinds of forms. Lots of people experience being afraid of the dark. People also worry about shadows in the room or become afraid of people breaking into the house.
The easiest way of getting through these fears is to make your bedroom as comfortable as you possibly can. Try to make it so that those instincts arent able to kick in. If youre hot at night but cant open the window, perhaps you could ask for a desk fan in your room. A fan can help you to sleep in lots of ways. It will keep you cool and the background noise can also be soothing and block out other small noises that might be making you worried.
If darkness is an issue you might want to get a small nightlight or lamp to make the room a little lighter. Finding things like this to make you comfortable will help you to sleep better. Everyone is different so you might find you prefer other things.
Some people might feel safer with their bedroom door closed. They might see it as being more secure. Others might want to sleep with their bedroom door open, so that they feel closer to their family. You need to try different things to find out what works for you, but often small changes like these can make a big difference.
I hope that helps.
Take care, Sam
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