Reading Insomnia

I don't know if this is an actual medical condition, but it should be. Despite what the time stamp at the bottom of this post may say, it is 5:00 am and I am still up. I have been reading a new series of books and I can't sleep because of them. This is certainly not the first time this has happened. Even if I do quit reading at a decent time, I tend to analyze what I have read and turn it over in my head incessently.

The general reason I can't sleep?

I can't quiet the mind. I think about work, friends, random things, my lack of sleep (which only makes it worse) and so on. I have had this problem since I was a teenager. I hate sleeping in the same room with someone because I feel like I have to be super quiet once they're asleep and then I am trapped...awake...thinking about how I have to be really quiet...because I'm awake and trapped. Torture.

I will go for several weeks and be okay and sleep decently. I define decently by getting to bed before two and making it to work generally on time (10). Then I will have days that turn into weeks where I can't get to sleep before 3 or 4 and then I am just toast for the following day. I get bored laying in the bed waiting for sleep to come and then I start reading and then I have to keep reading until I finish the book or decide that I have found a stopping point (rarely does this happen). Sometimes I will read two books before bed, maybe a magazine and then toss and turn after all that. I love to read so I can't give that up, but I guess I need to start reading really boring stuff. In graduate school I used to read peer-reviewed journal articles before bed and that was like taking a really powerful tranqulizer. Unfortunately, the idea of reading something like that now (when I don't have the threat of looking like a dumbass in class) has no appeal despite its promise of somnulent paradise. Alas, I believe I will read the third book in the series and bid you good morning.