Jennifer Aniston discusses her decades-long struggles with insomnia & sleep anxiety

Jennifer Aniston kind of hid a really interesting fact about herself for years and I’m mad about it? Like, Aniston has spent decades talking about her hair and her diet in endless interviews, and this whole time she could have been talking about her sleepwalking and insomnia! WTF, I would have loved to talk about that! I had no idea that she was a sleepwalker and I didn’t know that she has battled insomnia for decades. Aniston is part of some new campaign called Seize the Night and Day, where people are encouraged to speak out about their sleep problems and build awareness about sleep difficulties.

For too long, heading off to bed felt “almost like walking the plank” to Jennifer Aniston. The superstar actress, 53, has dealt with years — even decades — of sleep problems, from insomnia to sleepwalking to sleep anxiety, making her dread another night of “counting cracks in the walls,” she tells PEOPLE. “I think it started somewhere in my 30s or even earlier, but you just don’t start to notice the effects of a lack of sleep when we’re younger because we’re so invincible. It began as something that I would just accept and then all of a sudden you realize the effects of your lack of sleep and how it affects your day and your work and your mind function and your physique.”

Aniston would try to go to sleep and end up watching the clock, “a big no-no,” because it just made her focus on how much time was passing and how many hours of shut-eye she was missing. “And the more I worry about it, the harder it is to fall asleep,” she says.

The Friends star was even sleepwalking at times, but has thankfully stopped — as far as she knows. “I have been known to do that. I’ve been woken up by house alarms going off that I’ve set off. And I don’t think I do that anymore — that was when I was super sleep deprived,” she says, adding that “at least there’s that silver lining” to her sleep woes. “The body is saying, ‘Now don’t go out and set the alarm off again, okay?’ ”

Still, Aniston put off getting medical help, thinking her sleep problems weren’t enough of a priority. But in the last few years, she realized she needed a real fix for her insomnia. “It became something that I really was struggling with,” she says. “It used to be the last thing on the list, but you can’t really abide by the three pillars of health — which are diet, exercise and sleep — if you can’t really exercise and you can’t really eat right if you haven’t slept well because your body clock is so completely thrown off.”

Aniston got help from a doctor, something she “absolutely recommends people do,” and that’s why she joined in on a new campaign, Seize the Night and Day, where people can find news and advice for dealing with their own sleep issues.

Along with the medical help, Aniston now finds that having a nighttime ritual makes a huge difference. She gives herself time to wind down, does some stretches or yoga and leaves her phone out of the room. She also tries to “make bedtime the same every night, which is challenging for us actors, because if we’re on a movie, the schedule is all over the place.”

But one thing Aniston is not willing to give up, even if it means better rest, is sleeping in bed with her three dogs. “It’s just too cozy when they cuddle!” she says. “It’s worth it. Especially since Chesterfield [her 1½-year-old dog] is not a puppy anymore. Now he’s just a sweet, deep sleeper. I actually envy his sleep sometimes.”

[From People]

I don’t know if Aniston is still a casual pot-smoker and casual drinker, but alcohol and pot will mess up your sleep cycles too. For a while, I believed that a nightcap helped me sleep – which is true – but then it became about “needing” the alcohol to sleep. Same with pot – if you try to sleep without booze or pot (after using either for a while), you’ll probably struggle with falling asleep or staying asleep. When I stopped drinking, I basically had to learn a new pattern for getting to sleep, including some light self-hypnosis, breathing exercises and some calming exercises. As for sleepwalking… that scares the bejesus out of me, that I might sleepwalk somewhere. I’ve been told that I talk in my sleep a lot though.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

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50 Responses to “Jennifer Aniston discusses her decades-long struggles with insomnia & sleep anxiety”

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  1. Gi says:

    My sleep has been all over the place since getting pregnant. I am 2 years post partum, my toddler sleeps usually ok but sometimes I get under 6 hours. I also get PMS insomnia and have sleep walked too.

  2. May Bench says:

    I am a cannabis user, but I take breaks from it. Right now, I’m on a break, 2 weeks so far, and I’m having great sleep. I even dream every night and remember the dreams. I don’t wake up with a stuffed-up nose or a runny nose which pot gives me.
    I quit drinking years ago and I exercise a lot. Perhaps Annison doesn’t know how to just shut her mind down and get a good sleep.

    • NorthernGirl_20 says:

      I suffer from insomnia and the only time I get a good sleep is when I take some canabis oil (it’s 15 mg THC & 15 mg CBD) otherwise I’m up all night. My insomnia started in the past few years I blame menopause although I’m 46 I’m post menopausal. It was so bad I was getting maybe 3 hours at the most for a while.

  3. Harla says:

    My daughter struggles so much with insomnia and I don’t know what to do for her. She’s tried various sleep aides and they’ll either not work, work for awhile or they leave her feeling like crap the next day. I’m curious to read what helps others here, maybe I’ll find something that she hasn’t tried yet🤞

    • Laalaa says:

      I’ve written a comment down below I hope helps, but the best thing my mum did for me is not making me sleep or pressuring me to sleep.
      Just let her be awake, let her do something until she feels sleepy. Feeling sleepy is not a feeling everybody gets, I do not understand how people just fall asleep at all.

      • mathpint says:

        My daughter has struggled with this ever since she was born. The anxiety about not being able to sleep is so very real! Some folks just naturally have low levels of melatonin. She’s 14 now, but we have tried going to therapy, various sleep aides, etc,.

        Along with a set nighttime ritual (which is hard to maintain for sure), I have found that what you said @Laalaa is probably the best advice I have. I don’t ever pressure her to fall asleep — I found that it never did any good and just made my daughter more anxious then she already was. We all hated sleep time! Seriously, like around 6pm, a feeling of dread came over the house (even though bedtime was like 2 hours away!). And it seemed like we were trying everything — went to a sleep therapist, tried sleep aides, etc.

        Things are better now — she has coping mechanisms, knows certain behaviors she needs to or shouldn’t engage in before bed, etc. But it’s still a challenge and I think it always will be. So, unfortunately, @Harla, I’m not sure there is a “magic pill” that will solve it all (I know you weren’t asking for, but I really wanted one when my daughter was little). But good luck to you and your daughter! I feel for everyone who has to deal with this (both the individual who can’t fall asleep and family members who are trying to help).

    • pusspants says:

      @Harla, I’m a psychologist that studies & specializes in treatment of insomnia for veterans. Here is what I recommend. Look up information on “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia-CBTI” and “Brief Behavioral Sleep for Insomnia-BBTI”. These are the two gold-standard, evidence-based therapies for insomnia. Unlike sleep medications & drugs, they are designed to treat chronic insomnia. Sleep medications really should be limited to short-term use because they are habit forming and they impact your sleep architecture, meaning you get less restful sleep. I hope this helps your daughter.

      PS-for anyone reading what Anisten said, most of it is great advice with the exclusion of going to bed at the same time of night. This is not something recommended for insomnia. The clock time should not dictate when you go to sleep. Your body feeling tired should be the impetus for going to bed. Otherwise you will lay in bed “trying” to sleep. The more important thing is to wake up the same time of day, no matter what (even if you go to bed late or have a bad night of sleep). Sleeping late to catch-up on sleep is what can start & maintain insomnia. One caveat is that people without chronic insomnia have a sufficiently strong sleep drive that allows them to sleep in or nap and still be able to fall asleep at night.

    • Liz Version 700 says:

      Harla I just started a new kind of sleep aid. It is called Belsomra I think there are several types in this class including one called Davigo. I like them a lot. They help me eventually get to sleep but they only operate in the part of the brain that controls sleep, they don’t turn off anything else. It is t as potent as some but it helps get you to sleep if you are trying. I took ambian for years because nothing else worked for me. It was like getting throat punched and dragged to sleep every night. I also use a sleep app and listen to white noise at night to help my brain understand we are trying to sleep now.

      • Christine says:

        I am one of those people who do crazy shit on Ambien. I am so glad I didn’t ever try to leave the house, but I did decide to perfect crepes, using every single pot, pan, and skillet in the house, and I probably would have eventually started a fire, but my then-husband was amused, and just watched to make sure I didn’t hurt myself.

    • Christine says:

      I am on my third decade with chronic insomnia, and I’ve found that every single person has a different thing that works, and they all sound bonkers to someone who doesn’t have long-term insomnia.

      For me, right now, it’s audiobooks (but not interesting ones, I need a narrator with a soothing voice and a topic I’m not all that into). The biggest part of my insomnia is my brain not shutting down, so I need something I can 100% focus on, to get me out of my head. Before I found audiobooks, I left a tv show on that I was so familiar with, I wasn’t waiting to see what happened next, but the blue light made that a less than ideal fix.

      My problem isn’t falling asleep, it’s staying asleep. Having a benign audiobook my brain can focus on when I wake up an hour or two later is key, and it lulls me back to sleep. If I start spinning on real life issues, I won’t ever go back to sleep. I cycle through slight awakening every hour and a half.

      Like I said, bonkers and personal to me. I did medication, and all the other stuff, but I’m 47 and I just want something that I don’t have to swallow, smoke, or stretch for.

      • Liz Version 700 says:

        Not bonkers at all! In fact the meditation app I use has a nightly boring bedtime story for people to listen too. I got halfway through the one about the clock shop lol. It’s called Headspace if you ever need a story quickly.

      • Sharon Moore says:

        I’ve been using audiobooks also for over 10 years. The trick for me is that it must be a book that I’ve read before so I don’t get intrigued in the plot if I wake up in the middle of the night. If I do awaken sometime during the night, I listen a bit more and am lulled back to sleep. Agatha Christie books read by either Hugh Fraser or Dan Stevens are now my go-to plus Poirot’s Finest Cases radio dramatizations. They all have been the best investment in my sleep.

  4. Mina_Esq says:

    Ever since I learned that Drake only sleeps 4 hours per day, I’ve been shook. If I get under 7, I feel like crap all day. I don’t know how Jennifer has survived all of these years without a good night’s sleep. It’s painful to even read about it.

  5. kelleybelle says:

    I believe she smokes cigarettes too. That’s a huge factor.

    • whatWHAT? says:

      nah, she quit a while ago…like, close to 10 years ago, I believe.

      I do believe she still indulges in the other thing you can smoke, though.

  6. Jan90067 says:

    My insomnia started just at the end of perimenopause, as menopause was kicking in. I started off with NyQuil, but after a while, I was getting some really horrible nightmares. I finally caved and went to the dr. to get help, and he said that when you use that stuff for more than a little while, that could happen!

    He gave me Ambien which works like a dream (no pun intended 😄). After an incident a few yrs later, where I “slept-ate”, and tried cutting my own side bangs in my sleep (!!!!), I wanted off. So I tried the breathing apps, meditation, stopping phones/computer for at least an hr prior; I’d always had a pretty set bedtime for the most part, so that wasn’t a problem. I tried edibles (even 40mg. Started with 10 and worked up; it didn’t help!). So I finally asked him to try something else. I tried pretty much every other sleeping pill on the market. None worked for me. So, I’m back to Ambien. It is the ONLY thing that helps me get to sleep. Otherwise, I can *feel* tired, but I just can NOT sleep.

    Going on 11 yrs with Ambien now. SIgh… I’d love to not need anything, but it’s this, or no sleep at all.

    • Pusspants says:

      @ JAN90067, I’m so sorry to hear about your struggles with chronic insomnia. Please see my advice posted above about CBT-I and BBT-I. They are both more involved than the methods you described trying, though those are good sleep habits that can help a little, they are often insufficient to be effective at reversing chronic, severe insomnia.

      • Jan90067 says:

        I just read it, thanks Pusspants!

        I did try the behavioral therapy about 10 yrs ago (at a cost of $500/per session that ins. would *not* cover!) and sadly, it didn’t help.

        I used to be a champion sleeper when I was young lol. As I grew into my teens, over summers I was a night owl and would always sleep later the next day. That was my natural rhythm. I was able to adapt when I started working (about 6-7 hrs a night) and it worked fine for many years, until the year the dreaded “M” started to rear its estrogen-deficient head lol

        I think for me, it’s gotten worse in the last 3 yrs, because aside the hormonal tics that continue after menopause, is now the stress and anxiety I have for being the (practically sole) caretaker for my elderly dad, coupled with the Pandemic. I *never* used to have anxiety before, and it’s off the chart now.

        Still…will certain keep trying. I’m off to google the other therapy you wrote about. Thank you, again! ❤️

    • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

      It’s crazy how people are affected differently. About a decade-and-a-half ago, I was prescribed Ambien (I’ve always had sleep issues). It was during the holidays, and the boys were camping out in our room and my youngest was a baby. I quietly got up around 3am, went into our closest and started getting dressed for a party with Santa. I kid you not. My husband said I got argumentative when told to go back to bed. The kids were laughing hysterically. He had to physically help me get back into bed. The next day I couldn’t find the Ambien anywhere in the house (somebody had gotten rid of it lmao). I’ve never sleepwalked my entire life, but two nights on Ambien had me almost cooking a meal as a zombie first night, then trying to go party with Santa the second night. Wtf?

    • Gubbinal says:

      Trazodone here. 100 mg about an hour before I hope to sleep. It works almost all the time, unless there’s a huge amount of unusual stress.

      • AmyB says:

        @Gubbinal Same for me. It works well for me.

      • Jaded says:

        I tried Trazadone for insomnia and the side effects were BRUTAL. I had hallucinations, anxiety and it worsened my insomnia. I’ve been using 5-HTP and Ashwaganda in concert with a relaxation meditation routine which works like a charm for me.

    • Sleepy in Texas says:

      I have the same issue. I just can’t sleep. Ambience has helped, but I sleep eat. I also have weird dreams sometimes which I hate.

  7. MaryContrary says:

    I woke up at 2am and was pretty much awake for hours. I am currently a crabby mess, drinking coffee and counting down the hours until I can take a little cat nap this afternoon. Insomnia sucks.

  8. Jenns says:

    I’ve gone through several bouts of insomnia. So much of it for me is anxiety related. If I don’t sleep, I worry that I won’t be able to sleep the next night and being tired makes my anxiety 10x worse. So it’s just a vicious cycle. I’m also bracing for the hormonal changes because sleep around my period is getting worse.

    I will say that exercise is vital for me in regards to sleep. I stopped going to the gym due to COVID, so my sleep cycle was all messed up earlier this year. But once the weather changed, I’ve been going out for a walk almost every night and have been sleeping just fine. I also have to watch my diet and cannot drink on a week night. However, if things are really bad, I will take a Xanax 30 minutes before bed. It helps shut my brain off and calm my anxiety.

  9. Sonia says:

    I don’t give a crap about Jennifer’s “lifestyle” I want to know why she started following Johnny Depp on Instagram and why she, or whoever is running her account, engages with stan accounts and anti-Angelina accounts and overall misogynistic crap. Jennifer has always been a bad person, maybe it’s haunting her dreams.

    • AC says:

      @Sonia I am will you on that! I am sorry that she has that problem. I don’t care for her, period! Perhaps It’s because of the spiteful things that she’s said and done, or it could be her undercover racism.

  10. Barbiem says:

    Im half believing her for some reason.
    She has a gazillion resources.
    I took sleep classes, downloaded apps, Meditation, prescription meds, otc meds, stop smoking, no exercise after 7pm.
    I once went over 48hrs no sleep up like a maniac. Eventually found what worked for me.

    • North of Boston says:

      I wonder about that too. Then again wealth and privilege aren’t barriers to stress and anxiety and those can wreak havoc on sleep.

      I sometimes think if I were independently wealthy I would get much more quality sleep. Not just because I would no longer have financial stress or have to put up with stress and ish from a job I couldn’t quit, but because I could match my sleep cycle to my own circadian rhythm instead of forcing into a schedule that my body fights with (it’s not hugely different, just ~2-3 hours off, but I’ve never been able to reset it, at least not for good. May be one of the reasons I love traveling to the west coast from my home in New England… having life run 3 hours later fits my internal clock)

  11. North of Boston says:

    It’s awful to go through that, the anxiety about it every night and the drip drip drip of sleep deprivation and the ripple effects they have on everything. If go more than 1 night without enough sleep I lose all my emotional and mental resilience. The littlest things can baffle me or bring me to tears.

    I’m glad she sought help from doctors, because sometimes it’s something physiological or something in your routine that you just can’t see, but people who are trained and know their stuff can figure out.

    All that said, I laughed when she’s basically like “I’ll do anything to fix it … except not have my 3 dogs in bed with me” whatever works for her I guess, but for me, if I was having chronic sleep issues I absolutely would see if having the dogs sleep in their own beds would help. Then again when I had a dog he’d often wake me up just walking around at night … he had his own comfy bed in my room and also a crate with a bed in the kitchen and he’d sleep on those for hours, but then he’d get up and roam around and the movement and noise (his footsteps or snuffing around) would wake me repeatedly. Maybe she’s not that easily roused.

    For me when I’m having any trouble sleeping now it’s usually stress or (alcohol too much or at the wrong time) or too much light in the room. I have black out shades and can’t sleep with anything that gives off light (digital clocks, other electronics)

  12. Becks1 says:

    Sleepwalking sounds scary, especially if you live alone.

    I go through periods where my sleep is really bad, and I wake up in the middle of the night (which for me is like 2 am) and I just stay awake until 4 or 5 am and the whole time I’m trying to sleep and i’m super anxious about how tired I’m going to be etc and then i finally fall asleep at 5 am and then my alarm goes off at 6 and its just awful.

    Last summer/early fall I cut out all weekday drinking and it made a BIG difference. for the first week or so it took me longer to fall asleep but then my body adjusted. Now I drink on the weekends and there’s no adjustment period on Monday (I also drink a lot less than I used to). My husband tracks his sleep on his watch and even one beer or one glass of wine messes up his sleep cycles, even if he thinks he’s getting a good sleep (he’s one of those annoying people who’s like, “it takes me so long to fall asleep, I was awake for 5 minutes after getting into bed!”)

    I do have a friend who takes some form of cannabis -I think in some type of tea? At night and she says it helps a lot, and has suggested I try it, but I just don’t want to start with something like that. As it is for me, not drinking and being conscious of phone usage makes a big difference (reading a book in bed for 20 minutes is so much better for me than when I just play games on my phone for the hour before I try to go to sleep.)

  13. Ocho says:

    I suffered from severe insomnia for years. Sleeping well was easy-peasy for me as a child and thru my 20s. Then it dramatically became horrible in my early 30s. I slept maybe 3-4 hours per night on average and at least once a week I would not sleep at all. FOR. YEARS. My hair was falling out and I looked and felt like poo. My entire sleep cycle was non-existent: just the same level of malaise day and night. This is after a childhood and early adulthood that had been filled with such energy. After much persistence, I finally got a doctor to check my hormone levels. My Vit D, iron and thyroid were off. After getting proper supplements, my sleep cycle slowly righted itself. But it was like a big ship trying to do a 180 at sea. My sleep didn’t return to perfect, or even return to great, but did return to something resembling a human. I was later prescribed Nytol One-a-Night (Diphenhydramine) to take before bed and later switched to Ketotifen — ironically neither was prescribed to improve my sleep, but for other medical reasons — and that really helped. At first, I felt like cr-p the next day (Nytol made me angry AND groggy), but after taking for a few days in a row, I had no side effects, just normal sleep. My advice if you have poor sleep: (1) First, ask a doctor to check for underlying medical reasons, like a hormone or mineral deficiency. Otherwise, you are treating the symptom, rather than the underlying cause. (2) If you try a sleep medication and it gives you bad side effects, try it for a few days to see if the side effects continue, but be sure to ask a doctor or pharmacist for guidance. Best of luck to everyone. It really sucks, but there’s hope.

  14. MF says:

    I’m prone to insomnia due to stress. Meds don’t work very well for me, and if I have more than 1 alcoholic drink, my sleep quality gets *worse*.

    What does work incredibly well is meditation. It really calms my noisy, busy mind. If I have trouble falling asleep or if I wake up and can’t fall back to sleep, I get up and do 10 minutes of meditation. 95% of the time, I’m able to fall asleep within 20 minutes after that.

  15. RMS says:

    Ah sleep! For years I used melatonin helped me to doze off, then cancer struck and it was dexamethasone fueled evening shopping online in Tokyo followed by long afternoon crash naps post chemo. For now, I use a tincture of Delta – 8 (a legal lower strength hemp-derived THC substance) alternated with CBD oil. I take breaks from it every few weeks but not terribly long since I worry about the effects of insomnia in bringing back my cancer. I live in a mansion with a terrifically wealthy and successful man (my boss, not my partner) and his insomnia is EPIC. Money and privilege do NOT guarantee decent respite, this I can guarantee you. I suppose because now that I have actually faced and lived through my worst fear, there isn’t as much to keep me up at night?

  16. gossipy harlot says:

    I generally get good sleep now, but remote work lets me sleep in a bit. Getting up for a commute cut into my sleep on weekdays.

    Alcohol messes my sleep; if I take a painkiller it helps ward off that side effect. I rarely drink though.

    #1 that disrupts my sleep is not eating enough. When I have gone through periods of dieting, my sleep suffers.

  17. AmyB says:

    I am really surprised to hear it took her so long to get some medical help for this!! Insomnia/sleep issues can be an underlying symptom of so many other things! And yes, medication can help for sure. I know when I have difficult cycles with my depression, my sleep is greatly affected. The stress/anxiety just prevents me from turning my head off, it’s terrible. But I do have Trazadone to take to help me when I need it. It’s an older anti-depressant, and non-addictive, and it def helps me sleep soundly when I need that aid. And as others have said, alcohol can definitely disturb your sleep patterns. But, seeking medical advice is always a good place to start!

  18. Jananell says:

    Maybe yall missed it but jennifer has talked many times about her insomnia. It’s been awhile but yeah. She also suffers dry eyes and has done a commercial for a drug for it.

    • Jan90067 says:

      Xiidra. I have very dry eyes and am on it, too. I also have to take an occasional steroid drop when they get really “chapped”.

      Dry eye happens *mostly* to women over 50. Ain’t it just grand to be a peri/post menopausal woman? lolol

  19. candy says:

    As I get closer to 40, it’s harder for me to sleep. I pretty much won’t sleep if I drink more than one glass of wine, so that’s definitely a factor. I also had to cut way back on coffee to just one cup in the morning. I’m lucky if I sleep 6 good hours now.

  20. Palma says:

    My son was always very bad sleeper and it created a lot of behavioural issues. We tried plenty of things, including nightime stories, natural sounds and meditation, but what definitely helped him in the long run was a therapy blanket. I bought it as a last resort because I was desperate but it really helped him relax in minutes and sleep more deeply. It was a game changer and I’ve recommended it around ever since, with great results. I even got one for me!
    I also battled with insomnia after years of sleep deprivation due to my son’s bad sleeping patterns. To me it helps going for walks in the morning, having a blue light blocker in the phone and computer, not watching TV late at night, not drinking coffee after 2 pm, having an early dinner, reading in the evening and going to bed and waking up around the same time (even on weekends). I started tracking my sleep and noticed patterns, like how many hours I need or how well I sleep depending on what time I go to bed. Aim for 8 h in bed to sleep at least 7.

  21. clarabelle says:

    I’m in my 7th decade and have had sleep issues my whole life. I would take forever to go to sleep as a child and often woke up tired and way too early in the a.m. By my later teens, I developed very severe insomnia, barely made it through college (having to take semester off due to insomnia). My subsequent working years were a nightmare of exhaustion. Finally, in my 50’s I had to file for disability which was another nightmare.

    I had 3 sleep studies which are kind of useless if you don’t have apnea (I don’t) and was prescribed .5 mg Klonopin which gave me consistent relief for many years but still only gave me maybe 4-5 hours sleep. Doc cut me off when I turned 70 (“you’ll fall down!”) and I still feel grouchy about that and have to make do with edibles but they only help a little and only sometimes. But I am beyond grateful that I no longer have to try to function in a job and on an early schedule.

    As for CBT, I don’t think I’d get the little sleep I’ve gotten if I hadn’t followed that advice from my teens (yoga, long walks, avoidance of evening social activities), so I kind of resent it when it is all that is offered to me now. I sleep (or not) with a plethora of pillows and make sure I am at least comfy and non-stressed during long nights.

    • Katie says:

      Wow, what a long journey. I’m not a great sleeper, but not like that. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with that.

    • Jaded says:

      Try a capsule of 5-HTP and a capsule of Ashwaganda at bedtime. I tried everything from OTC sleep aids (made me groggy the next day) to gabapentin (gave me weird dreams) to CBD oil to a couple of different anti-depressants (I got hallucinations and anxiety attacks). FINALLY I hit on the right combination, and combined with some in-bed meditation/relaxation routines most nights I sleep well.

  22. Cacec04 says:

    Uh…is that a madam Tusson wax figure of her in that first pic? It looks very uncanny valley.

  23. Nesta says:

    I developed insomnia after I had my son, even though he was a great sleeper after the first 4 months. Reached the point where my husband and I couldn’t share a bed for over a year. Tried so many ‘cures’ like melatonin, CBD oil etc before I finally went to see a sleep psychologist, which didn’t fully fix my sleep either but set me on the right path. But it was reading Kate Mikhail’s book Teach Yourself to Sleep that really helped me understand sleep better and take the reins.

    Now I have what I call my toolkit, not one thing but a whole bunch of things that I know work for me. Face mask and ear plugs, blue light-blocking glasses for evening screen time, exercise. But the big ones are listening to a sleep script before bed and recognizing when I’m worrying over things, then writing them all out in a sleep journal and writing responses that deflate those worries. I’m not cured but I’ve come a long way, and I can now share a bed again!

  24. BeanieBean says:

    My first job,, I lived in a bunkhouse & one of my bunkhouse mates was a sleepwalker. She warned us that she did this sometimes–it had been happening since she was a kid; one evening we heard her up & about, she even went to the kitchen to make & eat a sandwich, asleep the whole time. After reading this article, I hope she eventually got the right help & can get a restful sleep. It sounds awful. We didn’t know any better, just thought it was a quirk of some kind.

  25. CruzMom says:

    I’ve had chronic insomnia since I was a child. My dad and brother have it to, so it is most likely genetic. I’ve left no stone unturned in my efforts to get a good nights’ sleep – including CBT, talk therapy, EMDR, CBD, THC, melatonin, 5-htp, valerian, sleepytime tea, antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, yoga, vigorous exercise, warm baths, hypnosis, crystals, visiting a shaman, meditation (TM and mindful), etc., etc. I think for anyone with chronic insomnia, there is usually a magic combo, which can take forever to find and sometimes has to be adjusted. For me right now, it is melatonin (which I take so I can start feeling tired at an appropriate time), ambien, and weekly acupuncture (plus a million other little things like ear plugs, eye mask, fans, etc.). I love that Jen Aniston is bringing attention to this very real condition. There is a stigma surrounding taking sleep aids (if you tell someone you do, they will suggest 10 other things you should do instead . . . as if you hadn’t already tried everything). It’s really great of her to share her story, which may help more people understand. I just love her.

  26. Ann h says:

    “Idorsia Ltd and Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, US Inc. announced its partnership with award-winning actor and director/producer Jennifer Aniston to launch Seize the Night & Day, an integrated educational campaign that reveals insomnia’s dual impact that affects both nights and days.” ……….In other words, she’s going to be $hilling ANOTHER product. I wonder what happened with the two perfumes she was hocking, and the product for her ‘dry eye”. Every time I see an actor on too many commercials, it ruins their screen presence in any movie or show they are in. Same if they are continually on the tabloid magazines. Just too overexposed. That goes for Brad, Angie, Mathew M. and others.