[Insomniac12]

Hello, I’m 20 and throughout last 3-4 months there was a construction almost exactly behind my window. At that time I was awoken almost every single day by the noise in the middle of my night (around 6), and then I sometimes went back to sleep and sometimes I didn’t. Right now the construction is over but it seems like my body got used to it and I still wake up after about 4 hours of sleep. What can I do to revert that process?

[hiker]

Hi, #12, I think what you are describing is an actual, tangible cause for insomnia (construction noise), then intellectually understanding the cause has passed (construction completed), but somehow something in the brain isn’t getting the message (hey, no more noise; you can sleep now, okay?).

It might sound simplistic, but I think you are showing some awareness of the problem, and that just accepting where you are right now is a start. With chronic fatigue, it would be easy to fall into a mindset of “this is a disaster, look at all I’ve got to do this week, how am I going to make it, my work/school performance is going to suffer, I’m going to get fired/flunk out….” and on and on.

Instead, you have been able to remember how this started, and that somehow some part of your brain hasn’t gotten the message. And I hope you realize this is a perfectly normal response, that it can take time to settle down after chronic stress, whether it’s construction noise, stress at work, financial worries, that even when they have passed, okay, I am still a little wound up about that even though it’s over, but this will pass, too. Rather than, “what’s wrong with me, the noise has stopped, why can’t I sleep now, other people seem to be sleeping okay….”

Not to get too analytical here, but I would think that the construction noise could make you very angry. Maybe the noise was inevitable–e.g. trucks and machinery make noise–but still, it is maddening when it jolts you awake day after day. And just acknowledging that anger is maybe part of the process.

[Martin Reed]

Hello @Insomniac12 and welcome to the forum! @hiker shared some great tips! It might take some time for you to adjust to the lack of construction noise, as ironic as that may sound!

In the meantime, when you wake after four hours and find it hard to fall back to sleep, what is going through your mind? You might find it helpful to make sure you aren’t allotting too much time for sleep, and you might find it helpful to get out of bed during the night if being in bed doesn’t feel good.

I hope this helps.

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