填空题
A. Medicate with caution and see a doctor.
B. Go to bed early.
C. Get rid of time cues.
D. Get out of bed.
E. Try relaxation techniques.
F. Ease anxiety.
G. Take medicine when you are sleepless.
How to Fall Asleep?
It"s 4 a. m.: you should be sleeping! You should be logging those crucial seven-plus hours of quality sleep each night, and the frustration that you cannot fall asleep will make you feel angrier at this 4: 02 a. m. stare session. And it"s hard to fall asleep when you"re infuriated.
So what do you do? The tips below might help you sleep easier. Here"s the advice of Eric Olson, co-director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minn., and Harneet Walia, a doctor in the Cleveland Clinic"s Sleep Disorders Center:
1
When you lie awake in bed, you send yourself the wrong message. "You"re basically training your body not to sleep in bed, but to lie there and not sleep," Dr. Walia says. "And your mind can get conditioned to that." So if you"re unable to sleep for about a 15 or 20 minute stretch, try something relaxing and non-stimulating. Listen to music. Read a book. Whatever activity you choose, do it away from bed, and return when you"re feeling tired.
2
Use whatever relaxation tips you know to combat this inappropriately timed alertness. Try your favorite calming yoga pose. Neuroscience researcher Catherine Kerr explains a simple way of relaxing through breathing. You simply note the rising and falling of your breath, and focus on the parts of your body where you feel your breath, whether it"s in the lungs, tip of your nose or elsewhere. Visualization is another classic relaxing technique, in which you picture yourself someplace pleasant and calm. And what about the mother of all sleep remedies— counting sheep? Olson views this as a "mental distraction technique," like visualization. He says, "You"re getting your mind off of "I can"t sleep" and onto something else."
3
Sometimes the sleeplessness stems from worry. Your brain is overworking, thinking about your bank account and the big meeting tomorrow. For people who consistently have trouble "quieting the mind" at night, Dr. Olson suggests trying "to train your mind to think about those things at more appropriate times of the day." By systematically documenting these worries during the day, ideally, you"ll be less likely to focus on them at night.
4
Another common anxiety that hides in the wee hours of a sleepless night is the mounting awareness that you"re not asleep when you should be. Stress and frustration increase as you worry about how you need to be up for work in four (or three or two) hours. The experts" suggestion? Get rid of time cues. "No clock watching," Walia says, "That"s a big no-no. Turn the clock around."
5
Whether prescription or over-the-counter, Dr. Walia and Dr. Olson do not recommend drugs as a first choice for relieving sleeplessness. Ideally, the tips above and improved sleep hygiene should do the trick. But, should you choose a sleep aid, Olson reminds people that, of course, they make you sleepy. If your sleeplessness is frequent and influencing your daytime behavior, bring it up with your physician. "When people start to feel like they"re worried about their sleep during the day, that"s probably the time when they need some guidance," Olson says.