The science of sleep

The science of sleep is a program currently on BBC earth in my end of the world.

There's some very interesting and informative information, you should check it out, if you have troubles sleeping or suffering from insomnia.

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Nightmares AKA Night terrors

I've been having nightmares - or night terrors lately. Each and every night I wake up terrified, but here's the thing; I don't know what I was dreaming!
All I know is that I'm frightened out of my mind and wake up from running away from something. But I don't know what!

My friend has a son in the army, who knows a big deal about PTSD.
I've asked for advice, and I got a long email - thank you for taking the time to write such a long explanation ♡

Amongst one of the many advises, one is not to consume milk products 3 hours before sleep.

That's going to be a challenge, since I really enjoy cheese, crackers, milk and tea before sleep. 

That's going to be a change in my evening routine, but the main thing is to get rid of those night terrors, so ofcourse I'm up for it. 

I'll change anything to get rid of those nightmares.

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Quarantine and social anxiety

The Corona virus has made the government close the borders and actually forbidden people to get together and go to work in most places.

I'm not really scared about the virus. I'm more interested in peoples reactions in general.
Living in quarantine is not more different than suffering from social anxiety disorder, SAD.
You don't see many people during the day, often not people at all, so that's not a big difference compared to my daily life.

The empty streets we see on the daily news however, frightens me a bit. That's such an unusual sight.
We hear a lot of stories of small companies and owners of cafes and restaurants, who is really suffering.

It won't take a long time before small business owners has to turn the key. Rent for ships with great location doesn't come cheap, and I'll be sad to see peoples life work go to pieces caused by the virus.

One of my best friends wanted to close the borders the first second, she heard about this.
My God, if they had only done that, the problem would be solved by now!
Ofcourse it's a big decision, bit peoples lifes are at stake here - but yet again they waste time on financial speculations, instead of just taking in action right away.

That way we could stopped it much faster, but instead each family now has to be quarantined. The sign of no trespassing is no longer relevant at the border, it's too late!
Now we all have to living life like you're suffering from social anxiety. It's a bit different, but the result is the same. You can't just go everywhere you wish to go...

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Fight depression with sunlight

We all know  sunlight has a positive effect on us, for some more than others perhaps.

Several of the psychiatrists I've met, have suggested that I started in a solarium. I tried it twice, and I hated it.

Now I'm in a low place, so even though I don't get much done during the day. I don't like to go outside yet, otherwise we live In the country, so the Corona virus is not a huge problem for me on daily basis. Instead I try to recharge by chasing the sunrays in the house.

I eat my food close to the window, spend a lot of time with the dog, looking out the window "talking" about what's going on outside. It has been raining very much, everything is so wet and muddy. A trip outside is not especially attractive.

So instead I chose to chase the sun indoors, spending  time in the sunlight while doing something else.
My computer desk is always placed by the window. In the living room, I'm able to eat in the sun, and in the sofa I'm able to take my afternoon nap with the sunlight directly in my face.

This has made a great difference in my mood and also way of thinking.
It helps recharging my body and calms me down inside.

So - especially theese days with Corona quarantine - I urge you to "chase the sunlight" from the inside of your house.
And BTW: people with anxiety often live their lives isolated like this, separated from the world. I personally have lived like this for more than 4 months, so I promise you all, you will be able to handle it.

Stay safe out there, don't panic.

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Sheltered by the darkness

I discovered something... I start to feel more safe and secure during the dark hours of the day.
That's odd to me.

Let's take a small child. A child who has no scars on their soul, doesn't know harm nor danger, the child has never experienced anything bad. Never the less the child is afraid of the dark. The human instinct takes over: "we can see anything, it MIGHT be dangerous."
I assume we're born this way(?) I don't know, but for experiments reason, lets just go with that assumption for a minute.

If its "normal" to be afraid of the dark, why do I feel more safe during the dark hours, than throughout the day?
I've thought about that from time to time during the week, and I've come up with a couple of situations, that might be the reason:
- there's no disturbing phone calls, where you have to check for salesmen before you answer
- there's no unexpected visits, or people who scared the crap out of me for using our land as a parking spot
- no appointments I have to go to
- no phone calls pending. I have to make all the appointments for us, and the animals, since I have plenty of time to stay on hold!
- theres not nearly as much noise, than during the daytime
- bf is asleep, and doesn't interrupt my thoughts each minute
- the animals are asleep and don't need a door "man" all the time

If I take each of the above, break it apart and put it back together, nighttime it's the only time of day, where I have a decent chance of peace.
Nobody asks me anything, noone wants me to do something,  noone interrupts. It's just calm and quiet.

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