Waking and worrying at 3am is very understandable and very human. But in my opinion, not a great habit to get into.
— Dr. Greg Murray, Director, Centre for Mental Health, Swinburne University of Technology
There’s at least one person in Australia who’s been thinking deeply about why we often find ourselves tumbling down a dark, depressing, psychological rabbit hole, when we wake up at 4am.
Or 3am.
Or at whatever early morning hour that we find ourselves tossing and turning in bed… wondering why in the world we did the things we did… or why we’re going to do the things we’re going to do.
And why we didn’t apologize.
I didn’t realize, until just yesterday, that even people in Australia have this problem. One might think that Australians, living at the bottom of the world were everything is upside down, might wake up in the afternoon instead. But, no, they seem to have the same problems we have up here in the Northern Hemisphere.
From TheConversation.com:
Professor Greg Murray is a clinical academic conducting mixed methods research into bipolar disorders, circadian rhythms, personality and affect. He is ranked in the top 1% of researchers worldwide in each of these fields. After a first career in music, he took out his PhD from University of Melbourne in 2001, and has been a full Professor at Swinburne since 2011.
When I first started reading Dr. Murray’s article about why we wake around 3am and dwell on our fears and shortcomings — appropriately titled, “Why do we wake around 3am and dwell on our fears and shortcomings?” — I presumed he was probably an average American guy, like myself, who had found himself awake at 3am and, lying there in the dark, had a sudden epiphany about why we wake at 3am and we dwell on our fears and shortcomings.
But apparently, he’s been studying the question for many years, and probably wrote his PhD thesis on this very topic. (I’m being presumptuous again.)
There were a few clues in his essay that he wasn’t an American. Like, when he used the spelling, “cognitive behavioural therapy”.
And then he mentioned his breakfast.
Once the sun’s up, we’re listening to the radio, chewing our Vegemite toast and pushing the cat off the bench, and our 3am problems are put in perspective.
I’ve never seen Vegemite on the shelves at our local grocery store, but if Vegemite toast is capable of putting my insomnia issues into perspective — once the cat is pushed off the bench — then I sorely wish City Market would start stocking it.
Like I said, it surprised me that people have the same insomnia problems in Australia, considering that when it’s 3am in Colorado, it’s nearly lunchtime in Melbourne. And when Dr. Murray is tossing and turning in bed, beating himself up over some unkind remark he made to his lab assistant, I am just finishing my breakfast. (Without any Vegemite toast, however. Just plain toast with American butter, and maybe a drizzle of clover honey from South Dakota.)
One thing I really like about Dr. Murray. He’s willing to admit that, even with a PhD, he has the same problem I have. He’s been there. Down that dark rabbit hole.
And even with a PhD, he’s not yet come up with a perfect solution.
I like that, because there are so many perfect solutions I’ve not yet come up with.
He writes:
Many of us now practice Buddhist-informed mindfulness to manage stress in the daytime; I use mindfulness to deal with 3am wakings.
I bring my attention to my senses, specifically the sound of my breath. When I notice thoughts arising, I gently bring my attention back to the sound of breathing (pro tip: earplugs help you hear the breath and get out of your head).
Sometimes this meditation works. Sometimes it doesn’t.
Which I take to mean, even with earplugs, you might just be screwed.
My own solution? I get up, turn on the light, and write a humor column for the Daily Post.
Which admittedly is not perfect.
I mean, not a perfect solution.