[lm2808]

For the last few days I’ve been researching my family history almost obsessively.
For two nights in a row, I’ve been struggling to sleep as the names of these people pop into my head and won’t let me rest.
Last night I did manage to get to sleep at around 2am after restlessly trying to since 10pm. I told my mum that their names popped up and she said something similar happened to her but not as severe.

Tonight, I listened to a guided meditation at around 11pm and fell asleep for an hour but woke up to my sister telling me to be quiet because I’d shouted her name several times and then said “instead” with nothing else.

I managed to get a few bits of broken sleep until now (1:21am) but every time I try to sleep the names pop up again. It’s nothing scary about the names or anything but for some reason it’s making me feel really anxious. I’ve wondered if they’re intrusive thoughts but they’re not overwhelmingly negative so I’m not sure…

I’ve tried focussing really hard on making up stories in my head or reliving events to fall asleep but the names pop up again and stop it and now I’m wide awake and really sweaty again.
Any help would be appreciated!
Thank you

[Martin Reed]

What you have described doesn’t sound particularly unusual — your brain is simply processing all the information you have been absorbing! I was recently studying to become a certified behavior change specialist and this required a lot of reading and reflection, which spilled over into the night and disrupted my sleep for a few nights.

As long as you avoid the temptation to try controlling sleep (or your nighttime thoughts) or compensating for any difficult nights of sleep, your sleep will almost certainly recover all by itself as soon as it has processed all that family history!

I hope this helps.

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