I wake up at 3am to 4am daily as a neighbor makes noise walking their dog. This cannot be helped. Once I am awake, my mind won’t stop going over details about everything from the mundane to the critical. Often, I am able to fall asleep again after three or more hours of wakefulness, but only minutes before I have to wake for the day.

Does anyone have success with quieting the mind without substances so that they can fall back to sleep?

Edit: I want to thank you all for the helpful comments. I’m reading through them now and wioo be internalizing some of the suggestions.

To provide more context for those who asked:

I do have ADHD and OCD and Anxiety.
I sleep with a fan and a white noise track (10hrs of non-repeating noise I d/l’d with newpipe). My apartment building has a fire escape that the neighbor uses as their front door. This path means using a heavy steel door on a power hinge. (Slam!) The door is against the wall that my headboard is on. They have every right to use whichever door they like, and I don’t know them well enough yet to ask them to change for me. They are trying to be as quiet as they can, other than using the loudest path possible. They seem very nice, and their dog is quiet and well trained.
I’m in the middle of a long period of unemployment and I am beginning to worry about finances, as my savings are about half gone in a year.

Thanks again for all the suggestions! I’ll report back with my results in a few days.

  • Thelsim@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    I often wake up around the same time. What helps for me is a big soft toy cat to cuddle with. The feeling of security of being able to wrap my arms around something tight is soothing and often helps me drift off to sleep again.
    I don’t use it until I wake up though, until then it’s lying on the floor next to my bed. It could be that the change in sleeping posture is what helps?

    Granted, this might be a bit too personal to be helpful. But maybe it will help for you as well? Alternatively you could try a big fluffy pillow if soft toys aren’t your thing :)