How to Switch Off an Overactive Brain

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The discussion revolves around the challenges of quieting an overactive mind, particularly when trying to sleep. Participants share various strategies for managing racing thoughts, including using humor, engaging in sexual activity, or listening to audiobooks and comedy to distract themselves. Some mention the use of medications like trazodone and melatonin, while others highlight the importance of establishing a consistent sleep routine and creating a conducive sleep environment. Techniques such as focusing on relaxation, visualizing calming scenarios, and practicing mindfulness are also discussed as effective methods to help ease into sleep. The conversation acknowledges that while some individuals find relief through medication, others prefer natural methods or lifestyle adjustments. Overall, the thread emphasizes the common struggle with sleep disturbances linked to an active mind and explores a range of personal coping mechanisms.
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I guess all you guys have over active brains, but how do you switch them it off?
 
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read one of your posts

*rimshot*
 
Use hammer!
 
Sex.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Sex.

Yep, that works. Well, maybe not, but it does stop me from talking. My boyfriend seems to think this is a good thing, especially if we're arguing over something he knows he has no hope of winning. :rolleyes:
 
Moonbear said:
especially if we're arguing over something he knows he has no hope of winning. :rolleyes:

redundant
 
yep, brain's definitely stopped on someone.
 
Just keeping the thread from going into the gutter.
 
tribdog said:
redundant

Funny...that's what I keep telling him. :biggrin:
 
  • #10
I have never found a way to turn it off. It seems to get worse the sleepier I get.
 
  • #11
Evo said:
Just keeping the thread from going into the gutter.

Good luck with that :rolleyes:
 
  • #12
Redbelly98 said:
Good luck with that :rolleyes:
I fine bird like you would never worry me. Just look at that face!
 
  • #13
Evo said:
I fine bird like you would never worry me. Just look at that face!

Yep, the birds aren't the problem, it's the bees you have to watch out for! :biggrin:

(Sorry, my brain doesn't shut up either, and it's learned to type. :rolleyes:)
 
  • #14
Moonbear said:
(Sorry, my brain doesn't shut up either, and it's learned to type. :rolleyes:)
:smile:
 
  • #15
speaking seriously for a moment, does anyone besides me actually have trouble getting to sleep (because of not being able to turn off ones brain).
 
  • #16
granpa said:
speaking seriously for a moment, does anyone besides me actually have trouble getting to sleep (because of not being able to turn off ones brain).

I used to. the only way I could deal with it was to listen to some comedy cassettes.
 
  • #17
granpa said:
speaking seriously for a moment, does anyone besides me actually have trouble getting to sleep (because of not being able to turn off ones brain).

Yes
:cry:
 
  • #18
wolram said:
I guess all you guys have over active brains, but how do you switch them it off?

Sleep
 
  • #19
Watching a Rachel Ray cooking show.
 
  • #20
granpa said:
speaking seriously for a moment, does anyone besides me actually have trouble getting to sleep (because of not being able to turn off ones brain).

Yup...it gets bad at some point if you don't stop...
 
  • #21
it used to be 10 times worse than it is now but I took one sleeping pill one night, slept soundly that night and afterwards for some reason it got better. 90% better at least. I'm just beginning to realize though that its actually still quite bad (I thought I had apnea).
 
  • #22
granpa said:
speaking seriously for a moment, does anyone besides me actually have trouble getting to sleep (because of not being able to turn off ones brain).
I suffer from severe, cronic, lack of sleep and have to take medication to sleep since it became rather serious.
 
  • #23
Your brain isn't talking. Its all in your head...
 
  • #24
Evo said:
I suffer from severe, cronic, lack of sleep and have to take medication to sleep since it became rather serious.

what sort of medication?

I'm taking trazadone. I would take ambien if I could afford it.
 
  • #25
granpa said:
speaking seriously for a moment, does anyone besides me actually have trouble getting to sleep (because of not being able to turn off ones brain).

When I can't sleep, I get up and surf the web or read for an hour, then I find I'm able to sleep.

By the way, seeing your post reminds me of a little joke:
"When I die, I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather ... not screaming and yelling, like the passengers in his car."
 
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Likes gracy
  • #26
Sometimes when I am trying to get to sleep my brain acts like a radio I can't turn off. It would be more tolerable if it didn't play so much Britney Spears.
 
  • #27
Redbelly98 said:
When I can't sleep, I get up and surf the web or read for an hour, then I find I'm able to sleep.

I simply get into depression that I wouldn't be able to make up 7-8 hours of sleep. And then I start worrying about it and spend another 2 hours thinking how I can turn off my brain.
That's why I said "use a hammer" in the beginning.

Whenever I think of shutting down my brain I get into more trouble,
 
  • #28
Well, if you going to go the medication route, then what I suggest is cheap, over the counter, and multi-symptom:

NY-QUIL...cause it knocks me on my gluteus maximus whenever I catch a cold.
 
  • #29
cant take it every night. the side effects would be terrible. same is true for most ever the counter sleep medicines.
 
  • #30
Gear300 said:
Sleep

My brain whispers strange stories to me in my sleep. :frown:
 
  • #31
TheStatutoryApe said:
My brain whispers strange stories to me in my sleep. :frown:

Mine too! :smile:
It brings the strangest stories/worries.
 
  • #32
For me, it's about getting my brain to rev-up, not shut down that is the problem.
 
  • #33
Audiobooks are probably the greatest sleep aid ever invented. Turn off the lights, turn off the TV, turn on a book, close your eyes and listen to the book and drift off to sleep. I've got a few hundred audiobooks and I listen to one every night.
 
  • #34
someone said there brain was like a radio they can't turn off. in my experience it isn't so much a matter of turning it off as learning to tune it out. basically, ignore it. but that's easier said than done.
 
  • #35
Your brain IS you. How can you tune out or ignore your brain? tune it out from what? Who's doing the ignoring? What part of you does the ignoring?
 
  • #36
granpa said:
someone said there brain was like a radio they can't turn off. in my experience it isn't so much a matter of turning it off as learning to tune it out. basically, ignore it. but that's easier said than done.

I generally try to loose my mind enough to turn my thoughts into a dream. Its not very easy and you definitely oughtn't do it while driving.
 
  • #37
tribdog said:
Your brain IS you. How can you tune out or ignore your brain? tune it out from what? Who's doing the ignoring? What part of you does the ignoring?

What are you talking about? There's obviously a little golem in my head that is doing all that jabbering all the time.
 
  • #38
TheStatutoryApe said:
I generally try to loose my mind enough to turn my thoughts into a dream. Its not very easy and you definitely oughtn't do it while driving.

thats just it. that's what I can't do.
 
  • #39
tribdog said:
Your brain IS you. How can you tune out or ignore your brain? tune it out from what? Who's doing the ignoring? What part of you does the ignoring?

well when you dream where does the dream come from and who is controlling the dream? it comes from your brain but it certainly isn't you.
 
  • #40
I always figured that after I lost my mind, this sort of thing wouldn't be a problem anymore... I was right.
 
  • #41
NeoDevin said:
I always figured that after I lost my mind, this sort of thing wouldn't be a problem anymore... I was right.
ahahahha, so their is hope?
 
  • #42
I just ask all the voices in my head to talk quietly amongst themselves.

Actually, I think about water. Being in a kayak, or floating in water...very relaxing...look at the fishies...the coral...pretty fishies...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
 
  • #43
tribdog said:
Audiobooks are probably the greatest sleep aid ever invented. Turn off the lights, turn off the TV, turn on a book, close your eyes and listen to the book and drift off to sleep. I've got a few hundred audiobooks and I listen to one every night.

Good idea, I'll have to try that! Just like having someone read a bedtime story. :smile:

Lately, I've been way too restless to just fall asleep, so end up watching TV. I do fall asleep pretty quickly with the TV on (which is strange, because when I was younger, having a TV on would drive me bonkers and keep me awake all night). The problem is that eventually the channel I was watching turns into infomercials and they eventually wake me back up (plus the light from the TV wakes me up too), so I don't stay asleep. Maybe an audiobook would serve the same purpose to just distract me from thinking about things I'm worried about all night, but without waking me back up.
 
  • #44
Have any of you taken melatonin? It's better than the pharma prescription pills since there is no knock out and better than those herbal varieties since these don't really work.
 
  • #45
Moonbear said:
Lately, I've been way too restless to just fall asleep, so end up watching TV. I do fall asleep pretty quickly with the TV on (which is strange, because when I was younger, having a TV on would drive me bonkers and keep me awake all night). The problem is that eventually the channel I was watching turns into infomercials and they eventually wake me back up (plus the light from the TV wakes me up too), so I don't stay asleep. Maybe an audiobook would serve the same purpose to just distract me from thinking about things I'm worried about all night, but without waking me back up.
We bought a TV for the bedroom that has a sleep timer and a built-in DVD player. My wife will head to bed, turn on something that she has no intention of finishing, and fall asleep within 15 minutes or so. The TV turns itself off while she is fast asleep - we have a small window-fan for white noise, too.
 
  • #46
GCT said:
Have any of you taken melatonin? It's better than the pharma prescription pills since there is no knock out and better than those herbal varieties since these don't really work.

Melatonin won't help if your problem isn't that your sleep/wake rhythm is shifted. It can't help you from thinking too much.

I did try it once when I was on weird schedules for experiments and had thrown my body all out of whack for sleeping. It still didn't help much, but I had the WEIRDEST dreams while taking it. After that, I decided not to mess around with my hormones.
 
  • #47
Moonbear said:
Melatonin won't help if your problem isn't that your sleep/wake rhythm is shifted. It can't help you from thinking too much.

I did try it once when I was on weird schedules for experiments and had thrown my body all out of whack for sleeping. It still didn't help much, but I had the WEIRDEST dreams while taking it. After that, I decided not to mess around with my hormones.
I tried that, and other "remedies" when I worked shifts. Nothing worked as well as good procedures. Make sure that you are not over-fed or have much of a load of alcohol, caffeine, etc, head to bed at a reasonable time, and have enough white noise to mask other sounds from a normal household. When I worked in pulp and paper, I worked the brutal "Southern Swing" shift for a number of years, and later transitioned to a 3-on, 3-off 12-hour/day shift. Both had their bad points.
 
  • #48
I've tried numerous prescription and over-the-counter medications, and I'm extremely sensitive to all of them. Meaning, I end up sleeping much too long and/or I'm very groggy the next day. Melatonin and herbals don't help me at all.

The best over-the-counter medication I've found is Doxylamine Succinate. The box I have now is a generic Rite Aid brand, "Night Sleep Aid". They come in 25mg tablets, and I take ¼ to ½ of a tablet. That's usually enough to help without leaving me "wonky" the next day.

Lately, I'm having a much easier time sleeping, but I still use the TV as background noise to help. I set the sleep timer for 15-30 minutes, and try to select a channel with something easily ignored -- such as a boring movie/show I've already seen
 
  • #49
The right exercise and spa regimen should help anyone , yet not many have the time for the former and the money for the latter. Spa alone doesn't help and exercise usually makes things worse ; I would usually set up a time of exercise at around six and take a quick shower e.g. with soap , the have dinner with beer , internet errands or time of socializing , and then have the spa session at around nine , take the shower , watch TV after taking some Melatonin.

Melatonin seems to work at times for me anything else has either drugged me or did not work. It seems that it hasn't for others.
 
  • #50
melatonin puts me to sleep if I take it once a week. if I take it every night then it ceases to do anything. even so it might be good to take it every night. they say it helps to reset your internal clock so maybe it would keep youi going to sleep at the same time every night.
 

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