INTP Insomniac

[DrGregoryHouse]

Is it a common thing for us INTPs to encounter difficulties falling asleep at "normal" times? Try as I might I can't maintain a normal sleep schedule 10pm-7am.

When I try I just lay there with my mind running nonstop. I've tried many times over the years because it seems like I'd realize a lot of benefits.

After lying in bed in frustration for hours, I finally give up and end up surfing the interwebs until my mind collapses in exhaustion somewhere in the 1am-5am time frame.

Is this completely normal for INTPs?

Suggestions?

 

[Rook]

Normal for me, yes.

At times I do not sleep at all, or go to sleep at 3am, 4am or 5am.
I am a consumer of caffeine and nicotine, so I would not say I am an actual insomniatic, rather I prefer to be awake at night.
One tends to have more privacy and silence, so my irregular sleep pattern is rather a lifestyle choice based on substance use and introversion.

Suggestion wise, if you do have real difficulties getting to sleep, I find that cancelling out noise (such as fans or AC's), not drinking coffee hours prior to going to bed and not being on a computer just before going to sleep tend to work.

Alternatively one can use substances such as marijuana or go to a licensed physician or psychiatrist.

 

[onesteptwostep]

I have it from time to time, especially in the winter. I think the one way you can overcome this is to do some type of exercise for at least 30 minutes and then never touching the computer/reading or ingesting caffine/food afterwords, just to build up the habit. I don't take in caffine after 6 pm as a rule, personally. I just tell myself it's better to run 30 minutes, tire the body out then sleep, rather than take 5 hours for the mind to tire itself out. But I think the best way is just to mingle with other people. I noticed that socializing and just chitchatting with friends and family helps you to fall asleep. And oh yeah, not touching the PC and food after this goes for this too.

 

[Architect]

Doubtful it's a type issue.

Otherwise I go to bed at 8PM and wake at 3AM. Got into the habit from a lot of international travel, somehow my clock shifted and I liked it. Nobody to bother me at the start of the day.

But yes an INTP might have trouble with turning the brain off at night - I do. Some people (e.g. Kurzweil) use sleep to problem solve, if I try that I think too much and don't get enough sleep. So my regime is that I work all day, all day, with the knowledge that I'll have a reward at the end of the day and be able to goof off. So after 5PM I take it easy. No plans for my time, I do whatever strikes my interest (read trashy sci-fi, play video games, whatever). Around 6PM I'll start watching a movie. The story calms me down from a day of thinking, and makes me a normal human being again. The net result is I sleep very deeply.

The other trick is I eat very little after 3PM. Maybe just a few steamed vegetables at night. Too much food on your stomach makes you sleep hot and bothered.

 

[Seteleechete]

I don't even try, I just let my brain run wild until I do fall asleep, if I don't(rare) I will probably just be happy about my brain running wild all night. This works better at winter when I can keep my room really cold, heat bothers me.

 

[DrGregoryHouse]

Thanks for all the thoughts folks! Interesting...

 

[TBerg]

Gave up on Vicodin?

 

[Jennywocky]

I do the following:

- Don't drink caffeine past 4-5pm (no coffee, no diet soda).

- have a prescription for temazapam that I use when needed (I think it's Restoril brand)

- try not to play video games for an hour before bedtime, if not more.

- i actually get zonked out from NyQuil type liquid meds. Some people aren't affected by them, but they knock me out in about 30 minutes.

- Also use a small fan to create white noise, so my brain doesn't focus on little noises.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

I don't have insomnia, I'm more troubled by hypersomnia.

It gets better once I hold a steady rhythm in life. But still I've overslept on all kinds of important occasions. I'm basically unconscious for the first hour of the day, sometimes more, regardless of the amount of sleep I got, it could be 12-14 hours and I would still feel wasted in the morning.

Thought trains are things that are imo more manic/hypomanic problem, that rarely occur to me (they do, but not an issue as say 5 years earlier or more) and are rather caused by the environment stimuli.

 

[Rook]

I don't have insomnia, I'm more troubled by hypersomnia.

It gets better once I hold a steady rhythm in life. But still I've overslept on all kinds of important occasions. I'm basically unconscious for the first hour of the day, sometimes more, regardless of the amount of sleep I got, it could be 12-14 hours and I would still feel wasted in the morning.

I do get this too, at times I am shocked to realize that I have been asleep for twelve hours.
Even if I do set an alarm, I have the uncanny ability to shut it off, even if that involves walking some distance, and then subsequently going back to sleep until an external event wakes me or I groggily realize I should wake up.

 

[rainman312]

It's almost certainly not a type-specific issue, although I'd say some types, particularly those who are heavy Ti or Ne users, tend to suffer from this more than others. I know this happens to me, though it isn't a chronic issue, generally just something that'll happen for a week or so, then be over for a while.

 

[OptiMist_Prime]

...Is this completely normal for INTPs?

Suggestions?

Have you tried warm milk? Just kidding. Doctors have actually suggested that to me though. Restoril is good but I was told it is highly addictive and few people prescribe it. It can't be that addictive, I still have some pills from my last batch. I never found it addictive and I bet if it was still patented they would try to sell crap-loads upon crap-loads of it. Damn pharmas.

You can probably find tons of info on insomnia or meds forums, but I used to like Passion flower (standardized). And there's this nice combo supplement called Melodyn. A little pricey, but it works--or it used to for me anyway. It's uses standardized extracts which is nice, but includes melatonin which can make you groggy, but maybe it will work for you.

If you can't stay off the computer/tablet at least get a proggie called Redshift or the like. It changes the color temperature of the screen. Also buy amber sunglasses. Both of these things will block the blue light from hitting the special photo receptors in your retina that lock up melatonin. Start wearing them 2 hours before you want to go to bed. I found that yellow glasses kinda help sometimes too.

Exercise is great, but I find that cardio is actually worse than caffeine, but everyone is different. So run and if that doesn't work, weight lift. That used to work great.

Anyway, you could just be a night owl (genetically I mean), so kiss your dreams of being a farmer goodbye! Or whatever, but hopefully you can manage a more normal schedule. Sleeping a messed up schedule is bad for your body; it's disruptive and can lead to depression for example, along with a bunch of other stuff, although I don't know how that applies to people who are predisposed to be night owls. I would guess it's a little less bad, but still bad.

Xanax is what I currently use to help me sleep. Oh and did I mention mindfulness? I read a book about it, so now I suggest it for everything, even though I still have to practice it more myself.

 

[Plopsypoodle]

I find it hard to sleep sometimes. A lot of the time it's because I found out something exiting that day, and I can't get it out of my head. I think for about 30 mins-2 hrs. Matters how interesting I found it. When finding out stuff I'm most interested in (like when I found out INTPs existed XD,) that were really big for me, I cant sleep very well for at least 2 or 3 days. My mind buzzes about on the subject so much, Sometimes I cry XD But when I just want to get to sleep and my minds like "…" Then I fall hard like a rock xD so, I don't know. How interesting do you find life?


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

 

[Yellow]

Sleep patterns are largely affected by age, your own body, and your environment. Teens and early 20-somethings, for example, more naturally go to sleep in the middle of the physical night and sleep for 8-9 hours. Mid-adults seem to most naturally sleep in two 3-5 hour chunks with an hour or so of waking during the night, and older adults usually sleep less and in more nap-like spurts. Of course, our work and school schedules rarely allow for this.

I think that work/family schedule, stimulant/depressant intake, diet, latitude, season, mental health, and a plethora of other factors account for our personal sleep variations.

 

[SpaceYeti]

Joining the Army got me on schedule. When they wake you up at Stupid o'clock AM to go ruck twelve miles, you have few problems getting to sleep.

Before then, that was prime WoW time.

 

[DrGregoryHouse]

Sleep patterns are largely affected by age, your own body, and your environment. Teens and early 20-somethings, for example, more naturally go to sleep in the middle of the physical night and sleep for 8-9 hours. Mid-adults seem to most naturally sleep in two 3-5 hour chunks with an hour or so of waking during the night, and older adults usually sleep less and in more nap-like spurts. Of course, our work and school schedules rarely allow for this.

I think that work/family schedule, stimulant/depressant intake, diet, latitude, season, mental health, and a plethora of other factors account for our personal sleep variations.

Impressive thoughtful response

 

[Mani]

Used to be a problem before meditation. I went to my first Yoga session after work one time. Fell asleep in Shavasana(corpse pose) and someone had to wake me up.