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Practical guideTraumaMental health1 minute read
Sleep after trauma
Nightmares, waking at three, never quite resting. Practical things that help.
Trauma often shows up at night. The mind is quieter, so what you hold back during the day has room to come forward.
Common patterns
- Trouble falling asleep, because you cannot switch off
- Waking at the same time every night
- Nightmares, sometimes about what happened, sometimes not
- Sleeping a lot but never feeling rested
Things that help
- Keep the same wake time every day, even after a bad night
- Make the room feel safe: a light, a locked door, something familiar
- Write down what is on your mind before bed so you do not have to hold it
- Avoid alcohol to get to sleep. It often makes the second half of the night worse
- If you wake and cannot settle, get up for a while and do something quiet
After a nightmare
Turn a light on. Remind yourself where you are and what year it is. Drink some water. Breathe out slowly. Some people find it helps to write down the dream and then change its ending.
If sleep stays broken for weeks, talk to a doctor. Poor sleep makes everything harder, and there is help for it.
