To help yourself fall asleep, do you ever find yourself making up a storyline and playing it through your head like a scene in a movie?
I have anxiety and sometimes have trouble watching movies even though I want to. I want to watch more with my gf but run into some problems
Before I start, sorry if this type of post isn’t allowed here, and I understand if it’s removed. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Now, I don’t typically really enjoy watching movies that much, and I never have, although I have definitely watched some in the past and I usually enjoy it when I do. It’s just not something that I tend to do very often, and honestly I have to be in a very good mindset already before I’ll decide to sit down and watch TV or a movie.
The issue is that my girlfriend absolutely loves watching movies, it’s one of her bigger hobbies, she follows actors & actresses, and loves talking to me about them as well. So, of course, she naturally wants me to watch some of them with her and share them with me. And I actively want to do this with her as well. Another part to the story, my gf and I are currently long distance, so I can’t just sit down on the couch and watch a movie with her together, we just watch at the same time and will be on a phone call for the duration. We don’t do this very often, or as often as we would like, because a lot of the times I’m not in the mood, and the reason why is related to my anxiety. One of the biggest reasons that I dislike watching movies is because they make me start to feel “disconnected” from reality (for lack of a better word) and they tend to be long (multiple hours) which is mentally strenuous for me to follow for such a long time. When we’re having anxiety or panic, I know it helps a lot of people with anxiety (me included) to pay attention to our surroundings, and use our 5 senses to ground us and help make sure we are present in the moment. But I find that movies are basically the opposite of that, you’re basically just staring at something fake and make believe for a couple hours and nothing is there to connect you to your surroundings. After hours of watching, I’ll inevitably get so sucked into the movie that when it’s finished I’ll look around at reality and it will feel strange because I’ve been focusing on something else for so long, and this can tend to make me anxious for a little while until I reorient myself and feel normal again.
I haven’t really heard anyone else say this about movies before, and it feels like such a silly complaint because most people love movies and I feel like they would think that it’s dumb for me to get so worked up about this. Has anyone else experienced feeling something similar? If so, how do you make movie watching less of a trigger for your anxiety? My go to fall asleep shows are: criminal minds, friends, bobs burgers and Gilmore Girls. What are yours? I didn't realize it until my roommate binged the whole series on his phone but every character in Bob's Burger's(except for Bob) has a super grating, nasally voice. Its make it funnier when you're watching it voluntarily but I don't think I can ever enjoy having it on in the background again.
Golf tournaments. On weekends while in college my roommates and I would smoke a bowl in the morning and doze off to golf matches. The announcers always spoke in near-whispers, and it was always sunny with gorgeous blue skies...We didn't care a lick about golf, but man, it was really peaceful. That was decades ago and I haven't "watched" golf since, but it definitely worked back in the day!
Yep, definitely helps if it's a show/movie which you've seen 10+ times over. In that case, your mind isn't overly stimulated since you know what's going to happen in every episode/scene and you can just close your eyes and dial down your brainpower. Moneyball, LOTR, some Marvel/Harry Potter movies, The Office, Parks & Rec, and Sherlock are my go-tos.
Ones with longer episodes that you've seen a million times. For me the familiarity of it brings a sense of ease and comfort. It also means I don't feel a need to pay attention to the dialogue, where as I get curious if it's something I haven't seen before - thus interrupting my intention of falling asleep.
I also like to fall asleep to criminal minds, because it’s a good show, but the lighting in the show is decently dark, so the room isn’t illuminated too much as i’m falling asleep. I like to watch bobs burgers because it’s one of my favorite adult swim shows, and I also like to watch cartoons like powerpuff girls, Ok K.O, Clarence, Gumball, rugrats, or scooby doo.
When I'm trying to sleep, I have a really hard time not actively thinking about what I'm working on during the day or just generally feeling a bit stressed if there's anything remotely stressful happening in my life. I find listening to an audiobook I've heard before or watching a show I've seen before is just enough distraction to stop engaging with my own thoughts —so that I can actually sleep—but not engaging enough to keep me awake.
I've done it for as long as I can remember. Either a show or a movie. It's damn near impossible for me to decide "it's time to go to sleep" and then actually fall asleep. I'd just lay there awake for hours. So I put on something I won't get too invested in and once I have a hard time keeping my eyes open, I turn it off and I'm out.
I had never watched Big Bang Theory until the reruns came on. I went to bed one night and my husband had it on. I was mad I couldn’t sleep. Then I realized it’s actually pretty funny! I think I have seen all of them too but still prefer TV Land for going he to sleep. Big Bang Theory would be my second choice!
If you have YouTube I can recommend Tasting History with Max Miller, and Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration. Both are excellent to stay awake and watch, but I frequently find myself snapping awake hours later. There are also a plethora of white noise, black screen programs on you tube, and binaural music content. They are all pretty awesome. Although binaural music kinda creeps me and my cat out sometimes, lol.
This will probably sound weird because it can be depressing but mine is easily Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. I don’t know why, but the mix between humor and news and his voice just makes me comfortable. I’ve seen every episode multiple times. And its also got a dulcet tone and there’s rarely any screaming or big explosions. I almost can’t fall asleep without it in the background. I switch over to Hallmark sometimes late for Frasier. That's an easy one for me to sleep to. We used to go to my dad's one week every month. I didn't have a TV in the room my son and I slept in so my tablet, Netflix and Frasier were my salvation.
The Americans, apparently. I've been watching it for a few weeks and I keep falling asleep after a couple of episodes, then more play while I'm sleeping and I have to figure out where I was at before I fell asleep.
I have to stray out of Netflix for my tried and true answer: buy Frasier on DVD. Rip it to mp4 or just mp3 if you're closing your eyes anyway using handbrake, but skip the last chapter which is Kelsey Grammer singing because it'll startle you awake.
Or if you want free, then watch YouTube videos of Cracking The Cryptic, specifically the ones featuring Simon. Yes it's boring Sudoku solving, but his voice and demeanor are a good substitute for David Attenborough and there are hours of videos available.
Otherwise, pick s show that you'll watch repeatedly so that it becomes boringly familiar and listen to it repeatedly
I’m a light sleeper and can go from sleep to totally awakened with slight changes in light, sound, temperature (yes, it’s annoying) BUT during a stressful week with insomnia, I was lulled to sleep by letting “Saints and Sinners:,The History of the Pope’s” (IMBD/Amazon Video) six episode, hour(ish) long play on low.
Before I start, sorry if this type of post isn’t allowed here, and I understand if it’s removed. Thanks for taking the time to read.
Now, I don’t typically really enjoy watching movies that much, and I never have, although I have definitely watched some in the past and I usually enjoy it when I do. It’s just not something that I tend to do very often, and honestly I have to be in a very good mindset already before I’ll decide to sit down and watch TV or a movie.
The issue is that my girlfriend absolutely loves watching movies, it’s one of her bigger hobbies, she follows actors & actresses, and loves talking to me about them as well. So, of course, she naturally wants me to watch some of them with her and share them with me. And I actively want to do this with her as well. Another part to the story, my gf and I are currently long distance, so I can’t just sit down on the couch and watch a movie with her together, we just watch at the same time and will be on a phone call for the duration. We don’t do this very often, or as often as we would like, because a lot of the times I’m not in the mood, and the reason why is related to my anxiety. One of the biggest reasons that I dislike watching movies is because they make me start to feel “disconnected” from reality (for lack of a better word) and they tend to be long (multiple hours) which is mentally strenuous for me to follow for such a long time. When we’re having anxiety or panic, I know it helps a lot of people with anxiety (me included) to pay attention to our surroundings, and use our 5 senses to ground us and help make sure we are present in the moment. But I find that movies are basically the opposite of that, you’re basically just staring at something fake and make believe for a couple hours and nothing is there to connect you to your surroundings. After hours of watching, I’ll inevitably get so sucked into the movie that when it’s finished I’ll look around at reality and it will feel strange because I’ve been focusing on something else for so long, and this can tend to make me anxious for a little while until I reorient myself and feel normal again.
I haven’t really heard anyone else say this about movies before, and it feels like such a silly complaint because most people love movies and I feel like they would think that it’s dumb for me to get so worked up about this. Has anyone else experienced feeling something similar? If so, how do you make movie watching less of a trigger for your anxiety? My go to fall asleep shows are: criminal minds, friends, bobs burgers and Gilmore Girls. What are yours? I didn't realize it until my roommate binged the whole series on his phone but every character in Bob's Burger's(except for Bob) has a super grating, nasally voice. Its make it funnier when you're watching it voluntarily but I don't think I can ever enjoy having it on in the background again.
Golf tournaments. On weekends while in college my roommates and I would smoke a bowl in the morning and doze off to golf matches. The announcers always spoke in near-whispers, and it was always sunny with gorgeous blue skies...We didn't care a lick about golf, but man, it was really peaceful. That was decades ago and I haven't "watched" golf since, but it definitely worked back in the day!
Yep, definitely helps if it's a show/movie which you've seen 10+ times over. In that case, your mind isn't overly stimulated since you know what's going to happen in every episode/scene and you can just close your eyes and dial down your brainpower. Moneyball, LOTR, some Marvel/Harry Potter movies, The Office, Parks & Rec, and Sherlock are my go-tos.
Ones with longer episodes that you've seen a million times. For me the familiarity of it brings a sense of ease and comfort. It also means I don't feel a need to pay attention to the dialogue, where as I get curious if it's something I haven't seen before - thus interrupting my intention of falling asleep.
I also like to fall asleep to criminal minds, because it’s a good show, but the lighting in the show is decently dark, so the room isn’t illuminated too much as i’m falling asleep. I like to watch bobs burgers because it’s one of my favorite adult swim shows, and I also like to watch cartoons like powerpuff girls, Ok K.O, Clarence, Gumball, rugrats, or scooby doo.
When I'm trying to sleep, I have a really hard time not actively thinking about what I'm working on during the day or just generally feeling a bit stressed if there's anything remotely stressful happening in my life. I find listening to an audiobook I've heard before or watching a show I've seen before is just enough distraction to stop engaging with my own thoughts —so that I can actually sleep—but not engaging enough to keep me awake.
I've done it for as long as I can remember. Either a show or a movie. It's damn near impossible for me to decide "it's time to go to sleep" and then actually fall asleep. I'd just lay there awake for hours. So I put on something I won't get too invested in and once I have a hard time keeping my eyes open, I turn it off and I'm out.
I had never watched Big Bang Theory until the reruns came on. I went to bed one night and my husband had it on. I was mad I couldn’t sleep. Then I realized it’s actually pretty funny! I think I have seen all of them too but still prefer TV Land for going he to sleep. Big Bang Theory would be my second choice!
If you have YouTube I can recommend Tasting History with Max Miller, and Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration. Both are excellent to stay awake and watch, but I frequently find myself snapping awake hours later. There are also a plethora of white noise, black screen programs on you tube, and binaural music content. They are all pretty awesome. Although binaural music kinda creeps me and my cat out sometimes, lol.
This will probably sound weird because it can be depressing but mine is easily Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. I don’t know why, but the mix between humor and news and his voice just makes me comfortable. I’ve seen every episode multiple times. And its also got a dulcet tone and there’s rarely any screaming or big explosions. I almost can’t fall asleep without it in the background. I switch over to Hallmark sometimes late for Frasier. That's an easy one for me to sleep to. We used to go to my dad's one week every month. I didn't have a TV in the room my son and I slept in so my tablet, Netflix and Frasier were my salvation.
The Americans, apparently. I've been watching it for a few weeks and I keep falling asleep after a couple of episodes, then more play while I'm sleeping and I have to figure out where I was at before I fell asleep.
I have to stray out of Netflix for my tried and true answer: buy Frasier on DVD. Rip it to mp4 or just mp3 if you're closing your eyes anyway using handbrake, but skip the last chapter which is Kelsey Grammer singing because it'll startle you awake.
Or if you want free, then watch YouTube videos of Cracking The Cryptic, specifically the ones featuring Simon. Yes it's boring Sudoku solving, but his voice and demeanor are a good substitute for David Attenborough and there are hours of videos available.
Otherwise, pick s show that you'll watch repeatedly so that it becomes boringly familiar and listen to it repeatedly
I’m a light sleeper and can go from sleep to totally awakened with slight changes in light, sound, temperature (yes, it’s annoying) BUT during a stressful week with insomnia, I was lulled to sleep by letting “Saints and Sinners:,The History of the Pope’s” (IMBD/Amazon Video) six episode, hour(ish) long play on low.
