\nIt's annoying enough to be kept awake
by a music-blaring neighbor, but when
it's you who is sabotaging your own opportunity for rest, it really makes a girl want to
scream...and cry from exhaustion.

Stress-induced insomnia is rampant these
days among 20- and 30-something women.
Thanks to job and money craziness, hectic
social schedules, and the pressure to be totally
together, the typical chick is more tense than
ever, and that means she's getting less sleep
than her body needs, explains Joyce Walsleben, PhD, associate professor of medicine at
the New York University School of Medicine
and coauthor of A Woman's Guide to Sleep.

Here, we explain how stress messes with
your nocturnal schedule. Plus, we give tips to
help you quiet your reeling brain and racing
heart so you can get the R & R you need.

How Chronic Stress Screws Up Your System

It should be simple: You are tired and it's
bedtime, so you drift away within minutes
of putting head to pillow. But when you're
stressed, things go haywire, and the exact
opposite happens instead. Being even a
little anxious can make your muscles tense,
prompt your body to release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, and elevate
your heart rate.

You can feel these effects when you're
worried during the day. But at night, they
have a stronger impact, overriding your
ability to sleep or preventing you from staying asleep so you wake in the middle of the
night, says Thomas Roth, PhD, director of
the sleep center at the Henry Ford Hospital, in Detroit.

Even if you do manage to snooze, stress
will make the rest you get more fitful. Plus,
you'll spend more time in the lighter stages
of sleep rather than in deeper slow-wave
and REM sleep, which leaves you vulnerable to waking in the middle of the night,
explains Barry Krakow, MD, medical director of the Maimonides Sleep Arts and Sciences, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and author of Sound Sleep, Sound Mind.

Why Women Have It Rougher

Hormonal shifts may make a woman more
susceptible to anxiety during certain points
in her cycle, such as during her preperiod
week. But insomnia is also caused by the
way so many chicks run their lives: cramming a ton of tasks and responsibilities into
their schedules and not saying no to bosses,
friends, and family members who ask them
to take on more, says Walsleben.

When you're juggling a zillion things all
day, it's almost impossible to chill out at
night — especially since the
time you're waiting to
fall asleep may be one
of the only free moments during which
you can contemplate your life. If
you're stressed, thoughts and worries will flood your mind, triggering
physiological changes incompatible
with drifting off.

The Snowball Effect

If stress kept you up only once every
so often, it wouldn't be that big of a
deal. Unfortunately, it's the snowball
effect that makes the stress-sleeplessness trap so pernicious.
"It's called psychophysiologic insomnia," says Walsleben. "After worrying about how you got no sleep the
night before, you get into bed early the next night, worried that it'll happen again. But this panic produces
brain activity that makes it even
harder to sleep, and the cycle continues for days, even weeks."

Besides leaving you tired and cranky,
insomnia also decreases your immunity, makes you forgetful, and can even
lower your metabolism so you pack on
pounds. It's a health issue that affects
your entire body, Walsleben adds.

Beating the Stress/No-Sleep Cycle

Getting a handle on this kind of insomnia means learning how to reduce your
stress levels during the day and keeping yourself from wigging out at night.
These anxiety reducers will help.

Unplug yourself. Always being
hooked up to your cell and social-
networking sites boosts anxiety because you're constantly anticipating
the next call, text, or message. "Turning off your gadgets for an hour or two before you hit the sheets gives your brain time to turn off as well," explains
Allen Elkin, PhD, director of the
Stress Management and Counseling
Center, in New York City, and author
of Stress Management for Dummies.

Take a nap. It sounds counterproductive, but a 30-minute nap will
lower levels of cortisol, so you'll wake
up feeling less anxious. Try to nap before 2 p.m., when it's less likely to cut
into your regular sleep hours.

Write a been-done list. Instead of
a to-do list, jot down everything
you've accomplished at the end of
the day, even small tasks. Seeing the
list in writing will remind you that
your life is less frazzled and out of
control than you think it is, and that'll
help you chill.

Set a daytime worry slot. Late in
the afternoon, take 20 minutes to
think about only whatever it is that's
making you nervous at the moment.
"Worries are never as bad in the day
as they are at night, so you're more
likely to put things in perspective
and come up with a plan of action,"
says Walsleben.

Sink into sleep. While you're lying
there, obsessing over whether sleep
will ever come, ease your nervous
system with this trick: Imagine the
muscles in your feet relaxing and
melting into your mattress. Picture
the same scenario with your calves,
then your thighs, until you have
worked your way up your entire
body. In addition to relaxing your
muscles, it's a visualization tactic that
calms your brain as well.

Take advantage of being up at night.
Instead of freaking out about how
tired you are going to be in the morning, treat your being awake at 2 a.m.
as a lucky break, giving you time to
enjoy soothing activities like reading.
By viewing insomnia as a positive
thing, you'll have nothing to stress
about, and paradoxically, you will
likely have trouble keeping your eyes
open much longer.

Sleep Tricks

Below, little tactics that bring on the zzz's and some that backfire.

What Works

Taking a hot bath before bed.
Besides being relaxing in its own
right, the steamy water also raises
your core body temperature, and
the subsequent drop in body
temperature after you leave the
tub puts you in hibernation mode.

Sipping a cup of warm milk.
The warmth is comforting, but
it's really the milk that has a
soporific effect. Milk contains
tryptophan, an amino acid that
is converted into serotonin — a
body chemical in the brain that
makes you drowsy.

Playing quiet, soothing music.
Folk, classical, and even lite-FM
tunes that maintain a steady
pitch and rhythm have a lulling
effect on your system.

What's Bunk

Exercising close to bedtime.
Working out prompts the release of
adrenaline and endorphins,
hormones that keep you awake. Better to hit the gym at least three to four
hours before you go to sleep so you
give your body time to cool down and
the hormone rush time to subside.

Having a drink.
Alcohol can make you sleepy initially,
but it will likely wake you up later
as your body metabolizes the booze.

Snacking late at night.
It varies depending on the type
of food, but in most cases, eating will
just pep you up. Even a
rich, heavy snack that leaves you
feeling woozy at first may cause
you to wake in the middle of the night as your body digests the fat.

Source: Registered nurse Joyce Walsleben, PhD

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