Dear Reader,

Troubles getting to sleep can be caused by an eye-opening number of factors:

• Exercising too close to bedtime
• Eating energizing foods and drinks before bed — things like sugary desserts, coffee, and caffeinated soda
• Going directly from working/studying to bed without a break
• Noise
• Light
• Uncomfortable room temperatures (usually too warm)
• A tossing and turning bedmate
• Fear of the dark
• Illness, or a chronic condition like arthritis and allergies
• Not being tired
• Anxiety about that day, the next day, or everyday for the rest of your life
• An inability to stop thinking about the day's events

Ask yourself if any of the above conditions are keeping your eyes wide open. Remedies to the more physical and environmental sleep-deprivers — exercising, eating, noise, etc. — are fairly obvious, all-be-them not always easily employed. At the end of the day, however, Go Ask Alice! readers most often point to the last two items on the above list as the primary culprits keeping them up. So, if you're in the majority, here are some do-it-yourself suggestions:

• Do something you really enjoy prior to sleep: take a walk; chat with a friend on the phone or on line; watch an amusing re-run; read something not related to school or work; take a bath; masturbate; etc. The idea here is to take your mind away from whatever's feeding your angst, allowing for greater ease into slumber.

• Make tomorrow's to-do list just before you call it a night. Not only might you be more organized for the next day, you may also have fewer anxiety dreams and a better night's sleep overall.

• Instead of just lying awake with worries, write them down in a journal. When you're done, close the book and put it away. Better to leave your stressors on the night table than take them to bed with you.

• Listen to music or a guided imagery tape to take you peacefully into zzz-land. Imagery often comes in the form of tapes with pleasant scenes in which you visualize yourself relaxing. They're available at many mainstream bookstores.

If these suggestions alone aren't enough to extract the roots of the stress and anxiety that are causing you lost sleep, combining them with some kind of counseling can be a sleep tonic worth considering.

Alice

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