Worrying About Sleep (19)

A few nights ago, I had a night where I didn't get very much sleep and I had some nightmares that kept waking me up. Needless to say, I was exhausted the next day, so the following night I slept really well.  However, the night after I got some rest, I began to worry about if I would sleep well or not since I didn't feel extremely tired when I got into bed.  As you might expect, I didn't sleep well that night either, and I actually had more disturbing dreams.  After reading from Sleep:  A Very Short Introduction, I learned that the process I just went through can actually lead to a form of insomnia (yikes!).  I've decided that when I start to worry about sleep from now on, I will take the time to do something that helps me relax, such as write or read for a short amount of time. I have a really bad habit of automatically getting on my phone when I can't sleep at night, but I've also learned that the light from electronics will prevent my brain from secreting melatonin, which is definitely something I need!  Having the ability to assess my sleeping problems and know the solution to each problem has been extremely beneficial to me throughout this semester.