"I've always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed." — David Benioff (City of Thieves)

You are lying there tucked up in your bed and the day’s images race through your mind like a never ending film strip. You begin to feel a familiar anxiety over all the things you have not done and goals unaccomplished. Your thoughts pummel you for your imperfections. Your worries take root and begin to sprout like weeds. You glance at the clock. A new worry appears. It is getting late and you still cannot sleep. If you don’t sleep soon you will be miserable the next day. But the more you “try” to sleep the more the thoughts in your head resemble monkeys frantically jumping from vine to vine. “Let go” you plead with yourself. Your body is so weary but your mind will not turn off. Does this sound like a familiar scenario to any of you? Sleep may be one of the first casualties of having a mood disorder and/or anxiety. In this post we are going to discuss sleep disturbance as related to mood disorder and possible remedies. I am also going to be using my personal experience to illustrate the quest to get a good night’s sleep.

It is well known that depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety  can contribute to disturbances in sleep. In fact, chronic insomnia is listed as a symptom of a major depressive episode. In addition, any medications you may be taking to treat your mood disorder and anxiety can affect the quality of your sleep. Are we having fun yet? 

For me, my sleep problems truly kicked in when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. You add my anxiety and bouts of depression and we have a recipe for insomnia and more. For all the parents and caregivers out there, sleep may also be disrupted because your day of work doesn’t necessarily end when you go to bed. As a parent, you may find yourself “on call” 24/7. When my son with autism would have trouble sleeping it had a domino effect upon the entire house in that we were not sleeping either. You can surmise from my real-life example that there can be a multitude of reasons why your sleep may be disturbed. And this is why it may be so difficult to remedy. Where do you begin to find a solution?

Personal Remedy # 1 for Sleep Problems: The natural route

My personal inclination is to try non-prescription methods to treat sleep problems as a first tier approach. I am not saying this is the way for everyone. This is simply my general philosophy and that is to not pull out the big guns unless you absolutely need them. Prescription medications may work wonderfully but they come with side effects. Supplements can also have side effects and interactions but usually they are not as extreme. Here are some of the natural remedies I have tried in an attempt to get better quality sleep.