Today, an estimated 48.7 million Americans aged 12 or older have a substance abuse problem or “addiction”. Further studies show that almost 1 in 10 Americans is in substance abuse recovery at any given time, even if it’s part of quitting drug or alcohol abuse themselves rather than seeking out treatment. For many of us, substance abuse recovery means significant problems with sleep. In fact, sleep disturbances including insomnia are often seen as a symptom of addiction, with many patients continuing to experience problems sleeping long after quitting.
While many people can benefit from sleeping pills and medicinal aids to get to sleep, most people struggling with substance abuse do not want to take on the risk.
Sleeping pills are very often highly addictive and having a substance use disorder in remission puts you in the high-risk category for abuse and dependence on the pills. This means that for most people in recovery, looking into non-medical ways to improve sleep is critical to maintaining recovery.
Talk to Your Doctor
It’s important to keep in mind that you should always talk to your doctor about your mental health decisions and interventions. Your doctor may also be able to help you get into programs that help you with your goals of improving sleep without medicine. For example, they may refer you to treatment or therapy, they may help you get into free exercise or yoga programs, they might get you into support groups where you can talk to others and learn how others are handling similar issues. Most importantly, they can help you to track the issue over time, can help you to assess the severity of the problem, and can help you to respond appropriately to it so you can act if things start to get worse than you can manage on your own. Sleep deprivation does increase stress which does mean you’ll be at higher risk of relapse, so it’s important to balance your needs and make sure you’re getting the help you need.
Establish a Routine
Most of us have heard the adage that we should get up and go to bed at about the same time every day as much as possible. Why is that? If you have a bedtime routine, your body will be more prepared for sleep when you go to bed than if you don’t. For example, after getting into bed at the same time every day for 2 years, you’ll find that you have a lot easier time falling asleep at that time than you would if you went to bed at random times. Unfortunately, it takes a long time.
Routines are important for most people because once you adapt, you’ll have a rhythm to fall back to. Here, you want a rhythm where you:
- Have a loosely defined bedtime. E.g., in bed by 10 PM most days
- Have a loosely defined wakeup time: E.g., out of bed at 6 AM
- Do the same things before bed to prepare yourself for bed. E.g., close the curtains, clean up a bit, read for half an hour, move to bed.
Having these kinds of rhythms will help, even if it can take a long time for that to happen. It’s also important to take 30-60 minutes out of your day as part of “wind down”, which means taking time to prepare for bed. Many people use this time to slowly set up clothing for the next day, to do small cleanup rituals, to water plants, or to read. Others prefer tasks like meditation that aren’t engaging, because the more you engage your brain, the more likely it is to keep you awake, especially at first. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed to do so the first few times you do it, so you’ll have to be prepared for that. Here, you’ll want to pick simple things, stick to them, and keep doing the same stuff. In addition, having a wind down ritual means you’ll be stepping away from screens and input like TV which does keep you awake – meaning that eventually you’ll have a healthier ritual that will support you sleeping.
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Exercise During the Day
Exercise is well known for helping people wake up and stay alert but did you know it can also help you sleep? The reasons are two-fold. The first is that the more physically tired you are, the more likely you are to be able to fall asleep easily when you go to bed. That’s a simple matter of having physically tired muscles. That sensation of physical tiredness will help you sleep. The second is that exercise produces neurotransmitter and hormone production, both of which can help to reduce anxiety, can help to reduce racing thoughts, and can help to increase feelings of calm, which will also help you sleep. Exercise does boost energy for about 2-3 hours after you do it. This means it’s generally better to exercise either in the morning, so you’re alert and refreshed for work or immediately after work, so you’re alert and refreshed for your time off.
Watch What You Eat and Drink
Most people know that you shouldn’t have caffeine before bed. In fact, for most people, stopping caffeine intake at around 3 PM or sooner or limiting caffeinated beverages to 1-2 per day is a smart plan for quality of sleep.
At the same time, did you know that simple things like snacking, having a lot of sugar, or consuming carbs at night can also keep you awake? Some dieticians actually suggest moving your biggest meal to the middle of the day, so you have your largest source of energy at a point in time when you’ll actually use it. Then, you can switch to a smaller meal later in the day, so you have less energy by the time you want to go to bed.
Make Sure You’re Awake Enough During the Day
Most of us are aware of the phenomenon where we go through the day in a tired haze and then suddenly get home and go to bed and are awake. Preventing this will help you sleep better. Here, you can use a series of techniques to help you be more awake during the day so you are more tired by the time you go to bed.
Bright light is one of the most important. Here, you make sure you have bright light in your morning routine and your home environment. That could mean going outside to have your morning cup of coffee. It can also mean making sure the lighting in your office or workspace is bright and full spectrum.
You’ll also want to use tactics like eating a good meal early so you have more energy, getting a small amount of exercise in as early as you can (E.g., take a 20-minute walk to start your day) and then paying attention to where you have energy dips and using walks or other strategies to compensate. The more you stay awake during the day, the more you’ll be capable of falling asleep when you get to bed.
Get Treatment
It’s important to take sleeping problems to a medical professional so you can get therapy and treatment. Treatment might mean you get counseling and support while you wait for your body to heal from substance abuse. It might also mean getting therapy for anxiety and managing thoughts that keep you awake. It might also mean getting behavioral help with things like routine, going to bed on time, managing habits, exercising, etc.
Millions of Americans have sleep problems. They overlap so much with substance abuse and substance abuse recovery that insomnia is considered a symptom of substance abuse. Getting that under control and getting back to a healthy sleep routine can take time and you may eventually need temporary sleeping aids. Hopefully, you can make enough progress with holistic methods that you don’t need them, but it’s still important to talk to your doctor and get the ongoing support you need as you work to build routines and support for a good night’s sleep.
