Taking steps for better sleep

Taking steps for better sleep

Mike:

I was having to sleep on the front porch. I couldn't even sleep in my wife's bed. When I slept in her bed, I would wake up every 30 minutes through nightmares that someone had came into the house, was harming my family and kids, and now in my room, they'd already hurt my kids, and were now in my room, and had their hands on my wife, and it was too late for me to even do anything. So, I would have to get up every 30 minutes and go patrol the yard. I live on 20 acres. So, I'd have to go patrol the yard and house and the dogs. I'd be up every 30 minutes. Up every 30 minutes.

When a Soldier comes home, your combat cycle is still on. So, we’re up all night. It’s very hard to get to sleep. Learning how to get yourself to go to sleep at night and awake during the day. So, most guys can sleep all day like a baby, like you would sleep in country. And then at night, you’re wide open, you’re wide awake, because you ran missions at night, if that was your cycle.

And I was even more messed up because I was in leadership. So, I would be up all night. We’d go out for seven days. We never slept. I mean, we were up all the time. We might sleep for an hour during the day. And then I’d come in, we’d be totaling planning the whole time. And then right back out. So, our sleep was really messed up.

I’ve met a lot of guys, and ladies, it doesn’t matter, are like that. You just get that cycle. You can’t break it. Until you learn the steps to proper sleep hygiene.