OUR STRUGGLES WITH SLEEP LESS NIGHTS, BY NI INSOMNIA SUFFERERS
ITV’s Tom Bradby has had to take time off work because of insomnia. Two fellow sufferers from Northern Ireland tell Leona O’Neill about the impact of being awake all night on their health — and how they cope
We all know the impact a bad night’s sleep can have on our day. Restless nights lead to exhausted and irritable days.
For most of us, it’s a temporary upset and our body clocks click back into snooze mode within a day or two.
But for millions of others, insomnia is a night blight that
Emmette Dillon is a 30-year-old from Londonderry. He says there were times when he was surviving on two hours a sleep a day and shift work only exacerbated his condition.
“I work in healthcare and have worked night shifts since I was around 19 years old,” he says. “And in this profession your sleeping pattern tends to be all out of kilter. Especially if you are working maybe several night shifts in a row.
“There can be a temptation to just get up when you are off. People say work shift patterns really do not help because you have to force yourself to sleep. But I think it’s more that if you are a problematic sleeper, then you are just that. Contributing factors like anxiety and depression — which I have lived with for a long time — really exacerbated it for me. You are trying to sleep but you can’t because of your mind, and when you wake up in the middle of the night your brain is active and thoughts re-emerge you can’t get back to sleep again.”
Emmette says that his condition got worse after he suffered a brain injury when he was assaulted in Belfast in 2017.
“Last year I had a traumatic brain injury,” he says. “I was assaulted in Belfast and had four bleeds on my brain. I also sustained concussion which meant every time I lay down I felt sick so I had to try to sleep sitting up.
“I was getting maybe two hours sleep a night. And I’m not someone who can sleep during the day because once I see light, I’m awake. That was the worst time. But even now there are nights when I still will be awake at 4am. I just stay in bed and hope that I do fall asleep again, but it is frustrating. creeps into every aspect of their lives.
ITV News anchorman Tom Bradby (right) recently took five weeks off work due to crippling sleeplessness that left him unable to present News at
Ten. Friends of the 51-year-old have said the journalist is recuper-
“I went to the doctor and he prescribed Benzodiazepine, which is a medication that is supposed to have a sedative effect and help you relax. The medication is highly addictive and that’s why when you go to the doctor with insomnia they will give you only three days of tablets. Because of my neurological history for me they didn’t work at all. The only things that have really helped me in terms of sleeping were exercise and meditation music and apps at night as well as not using my phone for maybe half an hour before going to bed.”
Emmette says that when his insomnia was at its worst nothing worked for him.
“It was more mentally distracting,” he says. “I was trying anything to help. I would go out for a walk. Some people say that reading at night can help insomnia, but I found that could be counter-productive. Reading something you’re interested in means your mind is still processing information. And if your brain is processing information it’s not going to slow down and get sleepy.
“My doctor advocated a healthy bedtime routine, winding down, going for a walk, getting some fresh air and trying a relaxing bath.”
Emmette has this advice for other insomniacs, awake like him in the early hours.
“I think people who sleep badly have to be mindful of things that are going on during the day that ating at home due to a bad bout of insomnia. Insomnia can occur in isolation or be a symptom of other conditions such as stress, anxiety or depression.
Here two Northern Irish people tell Leona O’Neill of their experienceofthecondition. will affect their sleep, like stress, and try and eliminate that,” he says. “And even keep an eye on their diet, particularly caffeine.
“I think people should keep a sleep diary, to record how bad things really are. When you go to your GP, he or she only has around 10 minutes to speak to you and you need to have everything written down. If it is getting to a point where it is affecting your mood and relationships then you should speak to your doctor about it.
“Insomnia is a huge issue, made worse by the excessive use of electronic devices and social media use in the evening and binge watching things like box sets.
“I think if you are mentally fatigued you look bad, your eating pattern goes crazy and it affects everything. But one thing that might work for one person might not work for another.
“For me, going for a walk during the day somewhere nice, in nature can help. I found meditation apps, which can play the sounds of rain, are really helpful in helping me fall asleep. And reflection — looking at what is going on and what stressors there are and eliminating them — also works for me.”
He adds: “There are countless studies about the risk factors with regards broken sleep and low mood. A lot of parents of young children will tell you, it can drive people into a really unstable mental state. People need to take it seriously and seek help.”
‘If you are mentally fatigued it affects everything’