Why do we often have negative thoughts at night? A sleep researcher explains the process – and reveals why the content of these thoughts is often unfounded. There are also tips to help you fall asleep.
When you lie in bed at night and think about your own life, you quickly start to ponder. What would I do if that person died? Does the last fight in the relationship mean I should break up? Psychologist and sleep researcher Markus B. Specht gives the all-clear in an interview with the Zeit-Magazin: Such nocturnal thoughts should not be taken too seriously. The head of the center for interdisciplinary sleep medicine at the Helios Klinik Wiesbaden also reveals what you can do to escape from negative thoughts.
Sleep Researcher: Negative Nighttime Thoughts Are ‘Unfounded’
At night, the hormone melatonin makes us tired. If you don’t sleep, your mood will drop. Even if you wake up and don’t manage to go back to sleep, according to Specht, dark thoughts often come to mind. Dreams would also have a negative effect on mood, because according to the expert, about 70 percent of the time you dream about bad things and have negative feelings about them. In them, people process dark feelings and thoughts that have been pushed aside during the day. In addition, other areas of the brain are active at night that promote creative thinking – which is why you can imagine what could go wrong particularly vividly.
Specht advises taking such negative thoughts calmly: “It’s totally reassuring to know that these thoughts have more of a biological cause. Because that also means: They are actually unfounded in their content.” Recalling this fact could lighten the darkness a little.
What to do about negative thoughts?
The expert proposes various approaches against negative nocturnal thought spirals. On the one hand, you can try to counter it with positive thoughts – that works better than counting sheep. “Our brain is like a juggler,” says Specht, “it can only keep seven to eight balls, i.e. thoughts, in the air at the same time.” For every positive thought that you bring up, it has to let a negative one go. According to the expert, autogenic training can help to practice positive thinking.
Alternatively, it is better to get up than to toss and turn in bed. Because the brain must not associate the bed with brooding, otherwise falling asleep would only be more difficult. Once you have gotten up, you should not be active, for example not working or doing housework.
Instead, one could, for example, read or watch TV – as long as the content is not exciting – or, for example, record the dark thoughts in a diary. “If you read what you wrote the next day and realize that it’s actually exaggerated nonsense, you might react more calmly next time,” says the sleep researcher. He doesn’t think teas, CBD oils and valerian drops are necessary – but the ritual of preparation can still help with relaxation. Only if you can no longer fall asleep without a certain aid, caution is required – that restricts the freedom of the psyche.
Persistent Sleep Problems: Getting to the Root of the Cause
Anyone who has been unable to sleep through the night several times a week for three months should look into the cause – especially if this affects their daily routine and well-being. According to Specht, this is often due to stress. He advises writing down the events of the days when you sleep particularly badly in a diary in order to recognize patterns. Once the cause has been found, you should check whether it can be avoided.
If not, Specht advises: “Release the stress before going to sleep so that it doesn’t catch up with you in your dreams”. Another sleep researcher, Jürgen Zulley, recommends to Zeit-Magazin that you refrain from social media and emails a few hours before going to bed and stop talking about problems in order to go to bed as relaxed as possible. And solving crossword puzzles for sleep problems keeps the brain busy and distracts from negative thoughts.
Sources used: Zeit magazine
Persistent insomnia is often associated with psychological problems. Those affected can seek medical advice. In the event of severe, acute mental stress, the emergency doctor (112), a crisis service (116117) or the nearest psychiatric clinic will help.
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