How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep After Experiencing Trauma
Our treatment center for trauma and addiction has many therapeutic processes in place designed to help a woman process or "work through" traumatic events. Here is an article one of our treatment facility staffers wrote about sleeping after a traumatic event.
The effects of trauma extend beyond anything physical you may have experienced. Besides potentially affecting your body, thoughts and behaviors, trauma can also affect your sleeping habits.
A traumatic event can interfere with your normal sleep cycle, often due to the stress that the event caused. This can lead to insomnia, nightmares and difficulty concentrating during the day. 
According to the National Sleep Foundation, the following are common sleep problems that occur following a traumatic event:
• Flashbacks and troubling thoughts that make it difficult to fall asleep.
• A need to be on alert to prevent a re-occurrence of the trauma.
• Anxiety and restlessness brought on by darkness and night.
• Nightmares that cause you to wake up in the middle of the night and make it difficult to go back to sleep.
For people who attempt to numb their pain with drugs or alcohol following trauma, the substances can make sleep problems worse.
Trauma can cause also your body to overload on adrenaline and make you too wired to sleep.
Getting a good night’s sleep is important for your health, body and mind. It is also important to help you heal from your traumatic experience.
Here are some ways for you to get a good night’s sleep and feel well-rested:
Create a calming sleep environment. Where and how you’re sleeping can impact your ability to fall and stay asleep. Make your bedroom a comfortable and relaxing place by decorating it in a way that makes you feel safe. Use soothing colors, put up pictures of people you love and install dim lighting. Bedrooms that are cluttered, too bright or that make you feel stressed and anxious won’t create a good environment for sleep.
Avoid physical activity or large meals before bedtime. Being too active or eating too much before you go to sleep can make it hard to fall asleep. Try not to eat at least two hours before you go to bed so that your body has time to digest. If exercising before going to bed makes you feel calmer, do something like yoga or Pilates so that you don’t get your adrenaline pumping too much before it’s time to sleep.
Find ways to relax. It can be hard to keep your mind from racing and dwelling on whatever caused you trauma. Take some time before you plan to go to bed to relax yourself so that it’s easier to fall asleep. Journal, listen to soothing music, knit or take a warm bath. Find something that relaxes you and get into the habit of doing that activity before turning in for the night.
Take naps. If you aren’t getting enough sleep at night and are feeling constantly tired during the day, take naps when possible. Try not to take naps that are too long, as doing so can also interfere with your ability to have a solid night’s sleep. Keep naps anywhere between 15 and 45 minutes to re-energize you.
