"I AM GETTING SLEEPIER.”

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 312, 31 October 1929, Page 3

"I AM GETTING SLEEPIER.”

r CURE FOR INSOMNIA. Real insomnia, from whieh very few people suffer by the way, is one of the xnost deplorable of all ailments. It is caused by nerves, indigestion, or an over-excited brain, but it can nearly always be cured—if taken in time! There is also a false insomnia which, 'though not serious, is almost as painful. When you tell yourself and your family ■day after day that you ’ t haven’t slept gill night, ’ ’ you are probably not speaking the truth, although you imagine you are! It. is true you often have mere restless dozes, during which you' are ndt quite unconscious and from which you wake feeling unrefreshed; but part of the brain has rested, and you have slept well enough to keep you going the following day. I do not mean to suggest for a moment that this is a desirable state of affairs. Far from it! It must be changed, and that speedily. You must realise that the first step towards really restful nights is to ensure bodily health, and then —let mind triumph over ‘matter! Sleep is largely a question of will power. Therefore go to bed at a reasonable hour and tell yourself that you are really sleepy. Relax every muscle; see that ■ even your fingers are slack. Now you are lying in the unconsciously relaxed attitude of a tired child. Even your mind is relaxing. . . everything is delightfully unreal and misty. . . . the rattling windows make you glad to be in a soft comfortable bed ... It is seven o ’clock, and the milkman is rattling cans outside the bouse! You have slept! If yon suffer from real insomnia due to indigestion, eat nothing after seven-thirty at night, and include lettuce in this last meal, if possible. Some people advise sufferers from nervous insomnia to tie a small square of camphor in a muslin bag and inhale it until sleep is induced. But thm may give you a headache, so I still insist that the triumph of mind over matter is the one and only lasting remedy. If you can overcome the troubles of the day by tackling them boldly, you can certainly overcome the terrors of the night by telling yourself that they are mere bogies; that nothing can happen, anyway, until to-morrow, and that to "gain strength for to-morrow you must sleep to-night. If you value your personal appearance, you must try to break the habit of sleeplessness. The strained, overwrought look in the eyes, the dark

circles beneath them, are not due to actual lack of sleep, but to the nerveracking thought that you cannot sleep, have not slept. If you doubt me, try an enforced “night duty” for a whole night. Bo not und-ess, do not permit yourself to doze. Keep awake, reading or workthe loaf it has been raised in too hot ing. Then about noon the next day compare your feelings with those that usually follow one of your “sleepless nights. ’ ’ E.H.