Why can't my mind stop thinking when I'm trying to sleep?
249 Answers
Last Updated: 09/04/2021 at 6:28am
★ This question about Sleeping Well was starred by a moderator on 5/12/2016.
Moderated by
Alex DS Ellis, MA, LMFT
Marriage & Family Therapist
Feeling depressed or anxious can be so overwhelming. I want to help you feel better and be able to enjoy life. You are not alone and you deserve emotional support.
Top Rated Answers
Anonymous
August 8th, 2015 10:44pm
because you are worried, take a shower and you'll feel way better after you'l fall asleep almost instantly
Anonymous
August 8th, 2015 10:46pm
Because at night your mind is more alert as you are trying so hard to make it shut down and rest, therefore it has a lot going on, your mind is a very clever thing and when you're trying to sleep it tries to think ever more as all of your thoughts from that day come rushing back to you
there's naturally the least amour of distractions when you are trying to sleep. therefore your mind will wonder into your thoughts
Chances are that you've done quite a bit of work before heading to bed. Shutting off your mind from excessive work and worry about 3 hours before bedtime can be beneficial.
Anonymous
August 12th, 2015 4:02am
It is difficult to stop thinking when either plagued with anxious or depressing thoughts, or extremely happy thoughts.
Anonymous
August 12th, 2015 4:38am
When you just lay still your mind doesnt need to focus on movement so it focuses on what ever is running through you head, and when you are trying to sleep it is even worse, because thats when "what ifs" will jump in.
Anonymous
August 12th, 2015 3:49pm
When I am about to go to sleep it's often stress that brings thoughts into my mind also the dark and quiet have no distractions. So I turn on some soft music to lull me to sleep and take my mind off things.
You probably have something in your mind that is important. Or you have been playing games a lot.
There are different things you can do to "turn off" your brain to help you get a better nights sleep.
Because your brain is filled with both wondrous and terrifying ideas, when all is quiet and calm you can think more clearly. The best thing to do during these moments is use them to dream.
Anonymous
August 14th, 2015 7:04am
For many people the end of the day is a time for reflection and processing of our day. Then there are those of us who process many thoughts rapidly causing emotional discomfort and trouble falling asleep. I started going to a Buddhist Temple to take a meditation class to help me clear my mind and relax. You know what? It actually helped a ton. Having a structured meditation routine really helped me clear my mind and worked wonders.
I also make lunar tea, tea brewed in the moonlight which is said to bring cooling and restorative effects on the body. For me it works. What is your meditation and lunar tea?
Anonymous
August 15th, 2015 6:53am
When I'm trying to sleep, my mind is the exact opposite. When we lay down at night in the dark and quiet, we are forced to listed to our loud minds because that is all we are left with. Once it starts, it's like a snowball rolling down a hill, making it very hard to sleep.
Often we are so busy throughout the day, and our thoughts are so focused on the task at hand that we don't often have a lot of time, to plan, and think, and worry. So naturally, when you've stopped for the day and want to sleep, your brain has decided it will use this down time to process all the things it didnt get to process throughout the day! This still, thinking time is important! But now when it can jeopardise a good nights sleep, thats where meditation and mindfullness can be helpful to give your mind something else to focus on that is calming and hopefully sleep inducing.
Anonymous
August 16th, 2015 10:37pm
I have this same problem. I think the reason is that when you're trying to sleep, your mind tends to wander because there's nothing else to do. It can get annoying, but there's some things that I've learned to do that help a lot. I suggest listening to music while you're trying to sleep, even if it's just classical music. If you can't sleep with music, try counting from 1-100. Usually you will be asleep before you reach 100!
Many people have this problem. The best solution is imagining. You should start imagining about something so that you cannot think about anything except this. You can fall asleep easily with this. This worked for me . So i hope this helps you too. :)
Anonymous
December 18th, 2015 2:45pm
because you like to think about some stuff winch are more important from sleeping or you want those stuff to happen
Because, at night, it´s when our brain is the most active (scientifically proven), i´d say it´s not a big issue, yeah, it can be at times, when it doesn´t let you sleep, but that way you can think of what´ll happen´ tomorrow :P
This is usually because your brain is focused on something that is troubling you or something your excited about. Its often hard to sleep if you're worried about something or angry about whats happened during your day.
For example you maybe worried about a job interview the next day and all you do when in bed is keep rerunning possible conversations in your head.
Its very annoying and I find listening to music is often a good way to distract yourself, I usually listen to rain music or birds.
Anonymous
December 27th, 2015 8:43am
From personal experience, I find that it's because during the day there's so much stuff going around and you don't tend to think about certain things that may be troubling you. Then, during night it all rushes in your mind and overwhelms you.
Anonymous
December 27th, 2015 9:03am
It is normal for your brain's activity to increase because your body is not doing anything which makes you think about things that happened that day or the whole year or your whole life
I believe that the thoughts that occupy our mind before we fall asleep are the thoughts that we surprise to the back of our mind, Maybe they're thoughts that bring up concern and worry. The thoughts that we try to avoid throughout the day.
Anonymous
December 30th, 2015 7:00pm
It is has been scientifically proven that it is best to turn off all electronics at least an hour before you go to bed, this is because it keeps your brain alert and active long after you've turned them off, which could be the reason.
The mind likes to think. The problem is more what it's thinking about. Thoughts that tend to excite the mind like regrets, problems, worries, likes, hopes and fears, can prevent the body and mind from calming down enough to fall into sleep. If you can replace these with thoughts that are have less energy to them, sleep may come quicker. The classic "counting sheep" approach where you concentrate on something repetitive and meaningless actually works for some people although I find it better to rest my awareness on the feelings in different parts of my body, starting with the feeling of my head touching the pillow, them going down though my shoulders, arms, back, legs, etc. Just feeling whatever sensations are there. This works well because it causes the body to relax as well as occupying the mind with something calm and pleasant.
The mind thinks about your whole down on its own. I don't remember why, but I read it in an article once. It is automatically "programmed" to do so, I guess is what you can say.
The more you oppose yourself to stop thinking, the more it will trigger to generate a lot of thoughts and it will make you awake, so first of all accept the fact that what you think might happen, but in every scenario many solutions are available we're just scared of trying it. So just don't be afraid that this negative things might happen, because if you're going to think it for a long period of time, it's like you are wasting your time without generating any concrete outcomes. If you want to lessen up your worries, try to note them in a paper, probably it will help you to relieve some stress.
lots of things on your mind going to sleep can distract you from going to sleep this is why it is important to use relaxation techniques and try to wind down and not think about anything bothering you for about 1 hour before you go to bed...
It's because most of our thoughts gather up when our brain is trying to rest. Even in our sleep itself, the brain activity does not stop- most of our subconscious thoughts pop up at these moments.
The mind is constantly active. Some things I have found helpful in unwinding and relaxing before sleep. Switch off 3o mins before sleeping ( not looking at laptops, computers, TV, phones) Taking a hot bath. Meditation. Journalling, reading a book, doing some colouring in.
Anonymous
January 13th, 2016 12:37am
It's a natural reaction. Your mind can seem completely calm until your head hits the pillow and then it seem to go crazy worrying about every single thing. Try to regulate it. You can do this by listening to music and listening to the lyrics, reading a book or a magazine to distract yourself. Or focus on thinking about one thing in specific, but try to make it positive. Like if you're excited for something you're doing the next day.
Anonymous
January 27th, 2016 10:46pm
Worriness or stress. when your mind keeps running even when you are trying to sleep it means you are worried about a situation or upcoming event. Or stressed out about a location you have to arrive on time to or scoring well on a test. The person is not feeling relax with so much things they either did or got to do.
Related Questions: Why can't my mind stop thinking when I'm trying to sleep?
At what point does sleep deprivation become a problem?How much sleep should I get daily? Why do I wake up sweating?How do I stop over thinking at night?How can I put down my phone and go to sleep?What does it mean when your dreams feel so real?Why do I wake up every hour, on the hour?What could it mean if I am sleeping too much?Why can't I sleep at night?How much screen time is too much?