Venting how common is having a never ending inner monologue that keeps awake at night no matter how tired you are?

[thereisnoneed]

I always assumed everyone had that never ending inner voice and that their brains never shut down like and SMH managed to live with it and sleep magically, but for me i never learned to deal with it, i have always had horrible sleep problems since my mid teens because of it, when people tell me they fall asleep in 5 minutes every night i refuse to believe it because it always take me forever to fall asleep and if i wake up to urinate or something, my brain will start working again and i will not be able to fall asleep again no matter how tired and sleepy i can be.

 

[Forever Sleep]

It's not exactly a monologue but, I will go through phases where anxiety stops me from getting to sleep. I always put something on in the background to sleep- from YouTube. I tend to pick the same thing now- something with rain and weather sounds in. It helps me feel more comfy and distracts my mind from thinking. Plus, I've heard it so many times now, I hope it triggers my brain that it's sleep time.

Have you heard of ASMR? Lots of people make YouTube videos now to aid in relaxation and sleep. Can be anything- people creating relaxing sounds to people giving guided meditations to people role playing as a shop keeper in the Victorian era etc. I find the trick is to find something distracting enough to take our minds off of worry but, not so distracting that it keeps us awake. Plus, now the bigger problem is trying to find videos without adverts all over the place. But, I've found that helps me.

 

[kibo]

I find that my endless thoughts cause me to only be able to sleep by passing out

 

[J&L383]

Classical music helps me turn it down. But sometimes I wake early and then the monologue won't stop.

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

Others here have mentions various sounds. If I understand things correctly, the more we focus on a sound (or sight, or feeling, or even the sound/sight of a thought, since thoughts are just sounds and sights, I think, at least experientially), the less the default network (memory, plan, fantasy, "stream of consciousness" monologue, etc) will have left to work with. Increasing this ability to focus away from, or "through" the monologue sounds like an approach to me. In my experience with sleep, focusing in a softer way, not straining, makes sense, but I'm no expert.

 

[flutt3rshy]

I feel the same. A lot of the time I don't sleep at all because I just can't put my fucking phone down because I'm terrified of being alone with my thoughts. Being on my phone distracts me from them and most nights I'm just too scared to put it away and just have my thoughts take over. So every few nights, I just don't sleep :/

 

[Pale_Rider]

I've gotten better at that. Sometimes. Learned some meditative techniques that help when I remember to.

 

[Unbearable Mr. Bear]

I didn't have this kind particularly, but I do have another, just as good: Little stories that automatically happen inside my head whenever I'm comfortable or idle. They are never pleasant, like arguing with people inside my head and desperately trying to win the argument so they SHUT THE F*K UP!

Strangely, when I go to sleep, these don't happen. Probably because my bed is my sanctuary and the place I go to recover from pretty much everything. The only place I truly own...