Let me start with a disclaimer – I’m not a medical professional, so I don’t profess to be able to give medical or scientific reasons for what I’ve observed in myself and others. I’ve read some articles on the Internet, and we know what that kind of “research” can lead to. Still, I’m hoping that the personal thoughts below might be helpful to you or to someone you love.

When I first realised my health could no longer support the sleep habits of my younger years, I was very annoyed, to say the least. I’m the kind of person who does their best work early in the morning, as a rule, but I also get a second wind late at night, get into the carbs, and stubbornly refuse to put myself to bed. My inner toddler is quite the spitfire, and came up with a thousand reasons to stay up “just a little longer”. Does this sound familiar?

At one point I had no fewer than three health practitioners scolding me about my sleep practices, and telling me that all the other good things I was doing and the expensive supplements I was taking would not help me feel better unless I got more sleep. 

I implemented many of their suggestions – I use blue blockers in the evening, my bedroom is cool and dark, I drink lavender and camomile tea before bed, I refrain from alcohol and caffeine after 3 pm (most of the time), I use adaptogens and soothing essential oils. What I found most difficult was changing the anxious habit of scrolling through social media in the evening. While my phone, along with all other screens, has been banished from my bedroom for years, there is a certain anxiety FOMO, Fear of Missing Out, that requires some real thought work to break.

The original FOMO originated in a more positive space – people wanting to be in on all the latest fun, sharing memes and staying up to date with what was going on in their friend group. That can lead to all kinds of issues on its own.  But I think that anxiety FOMO, or doomscrolling, is a different beast – it has really been brought home to us in the last couple of years just how little control we have over the world and its disasters, many of them inflicted by humans who have little interest in fixing them. I think there’s a sense that at least by knowing what is going on and having an opinion on things, we can regain some of that  control. Doesn’t that sound futile?

One good thing my doomscrolling has led to, is a desire to get involved in concrete action that can make things at least a little better – supporting candidates and causes that I believe in, speaking out against misinformation to the best of my ability. In some ways, knowing that I’m doing that helps me to put that phone away and get some more sleep. The best antidote to feeling helpless is taking action, however small.

If you follow me on social media, you may have seen me posting little screenshots of my Fitbit sleep score in my stories. It’s just a form of accountability, to keep myself honest and see where my habits may need some work. I’d love it if you would join me in that – if you have some way of keeping track of your sleep, post it (in a safe manner, of course) and tag me! Let’s do this together.