Please help me Escapists

[Paksenarrion]

Just a question. What does deprivation of sleep has to do with thoughs of suicide?

People seem to be worrying about the sleep part, but the suicide one is actualy kinda scary.

I don't know, I think I might have random spots of depression, in the first couple of hours I was thinking it was hopeless and that I'd never keep the job because I was so tired and not use to being up so late, I don't know why thoughts like that would enter my head but they did and when I got into my bed after wards, well I cried my eyes out, again, no idea why, but I just did.

I'm just trying to feel out the situation, so please don't take this in a negative light.

Were the thoughts of depression somehow linked to feeling like you won't be able to get a better job, or a job you would enjoy? Having trouble staying awake at night will also add to stress. It makes you think, "If I can't even do this job properly on the first day, what use am I?"

I've had those thoughts numerous times, especially now. Bringing a huge bottle of water is a good idea, as well as something to listen to. If you're the only one working at night, and there are no customers, you can sing to your heart's content. If you have coworkers, get them to sing along with you!

To put it in perspective, what you will be going through everyday is what astronauts have to go through in isolation chambers. That means you're going to be more psychologically fit for the loneliness of space than any astronaut in our short history of space travel!

But yes, water and music. Also, bring a pad of paper and a pencil. You might get ideas or even questions about your job you want to ask. I hope you also don't have to go to school in the morning. Sleep and rest is very important.

 

[TheHappySquid]

Upset your wake-sleep (circadian) rhythm by not eating for about 10-12 hours before you have to work, then eat just before you have to go, or just after you get there. Do this a few times, and your body will consider this time the new "Morning". This may or may not help depending on whether you consistantly have the same hours that you have to work, so use this carefully.

 

[StriderShinryu]

I've heard it also helps to listen to music softly or have the TV on low and trying to sleep in the day, is this true? I know I always put on soft ambient music when I go to bed before I got the job.

That can definitely help, especially if you can't get it quiet where you're trying to sleep. At least that way what you're hearing is under your control and it can cover up any other ambient noise. I tend to fall asleep with the TV on (or a TV show streaming on my PC anyway). It's a nice passive activity that your mind can sort of focus on instead of just laying there thinking about how much you want to sleep.

 

[RAMBO22]

About every hour go into the bathroom and splash cold water on your face, I find that temperature shock is almost as good of a physiological wake-up as a cup of coffee.

The most important thing to do to keep yourself awake is the most simple as well: stay active. Always be doing SOMETHING, sit down as little as possible and keep yourself busy, and you'll survive.

Best of luck!

 

[TimeLord]

What is it you work with first of all?

Shelf stocking at my local grocery store, the hours feel like they drag on.

I work nightshift at my local Tesco doing exactly that. First few weeks were murder. Hardly got any sleep etc. You get into a routine eventually and get used to it.

My shifts are 10-7, 5 days a week so I sleep from when I get home (8ish) till 5. Then eat and relax until 10. Drink lots of water but don't use energy drinks every night! As your body won't get used to not using them and you will have to have them every night to keep going. Maybe once a week or something.

 

[sir.rutthed]

I used to work graveyard at a local TV station and loved it. I used to read a lot, but that sounds like it isn't an option for you. Loud music could help, something to get the blood pumping and get you in the mood to move around. I recommend Demon Hunter or Bullet for my Valentine. You'll get used to it after a week or so, I had the 4 AM to 4 PM shift where I worked, then right as I got used to it they switched me to the opposite shift. It sucked for a few days, but you'll find your rhythm after a bit.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Wouldn't exercising make me more tired?

No, sir. I work out daily and it makes me sleep harder when I'm tired, and more alert when I'm up. The improved quality of sleep that is associated with exercise means you'll have a lot more energy to work with when you need it, and gives you much more control over your sleep schedule (I can hang out with my buddies at four in the morning, run home for three hours of sleep, then go out again feeling completely refreshed). It doesn't matter when you work out, truth be told, because one way or another you'll constantly be feeling better in just about every way as long as you're consistent. You can even work out right before your shift if you want the hours to fly by, all you need to do is take a hot shower after working out (and before you step out, crank it over to ultra-cold for a few seconds and stand there as long as you're willing) and drink some green tea, and you're good to go all night.

Anyway, exercise is never a bad idea. It'll probably go a long way towards getting rid of those suicidal thoughts, as well, since physical activity has done a hundred times more to combat my depression than the various medications I've tried over the years (used to take ridiculous amounts, now I take none and exercise, and I'm happier than I've ever been in my entire life). So yeah, OP, working out is probably one of the best suggestions in this thread.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

It might be that a normal sleep schedule won't work for you anymore. You could look into alternate sleep schedules like polyphasic sleeping, and to help adjust to your new schedule you can use melatonin. Exercising will help you a lot. Even if you just exercise 15-30 minutes a day you'll be surprised how much energy it'll give you, eating healthy will help too. If you have breaks at work you could actually use them to exercise, take a jog around the parking lot or something. When you start exercising a lot then you start to feel super pumped after you finish exercising, so it'll actually help a lot for keeping energized and staying awake.

Caffeine and other energy supplements can be very helpful short term tools, but they tend to build tolerance and can even be legitimately addictive (especially if you're drinking energy drinks like NOS or something). Use them at first if they help, but don't let them become a crutch.

Anyways, best of luck at your new job, I'm sure you'll figure out how to manage with it.

Wouldn't exercising make me more tired?

No, that's a really common misconception, but it couldn't be more wrong. There's a reason that people with insomnia are told not to exercise less than five hours before they plan to sleep, the chemicals it releases into your system give you a lot of energy. Not to mention, the healthier you are the more energy you have, and exercising is absolutely vital for being healthy. If you're out of shape and eat badly, you're going to feel tired a lot no matter what. You don't have to believe me, but I'd bet that if you start exercising you'll find that you have a lot more energy than you used to.

The body has evolved to release its stored energy for activity, but if you're not active, the body isn't going to cough up the stored energy. When you're up and moving the body is giving you the energy it has saved for action. If you're not doing much at all, the body assumes that that energy won't be used and stores it in fat cells for future use.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

It might be that a normal sleep schedule won't work for you anymore. You could look into alternate sleep schedules like polyphasic sleeping, and to help adjust to your new schedule you can use melatonin. Exercising will help you a lot. Even if you just exercise 15-30 minutes a day you'll be surprised how much energy it'll give you, eating healthy will help too. If you have breaks at work you could actually use them to exercise, take a jog around the parking lot or something. When you start exercising a lot then you start to feel super pumped after you finish exercising, so it'll actually help a lot for keeping energized and staying awake.

Caffeine and other energy supplements can be very helpful short term tools, but they tend to build tolerance and can even be legitimately addictive (especially if you're drinking energy drinks like NOS or something). Use them at first if they help, but don't let them become a crutch.

Anyways, best of luck at your new job, I'm sure you'll figure out how to manage with it.

Wouldn't exercising make me more tired?

No, that's a really common misconception, but it couldn't be more wrong. There's a reason that people with insomnia are told not to exercise less than five hours before they plan to sleep, the chemicals it releases into your system give you a lot of energy. Not to mention, the healthier you are the more energy you have, and exercising is absolutely vital for being healthy. If you're out of shape and eat badly, you're going to feel tired a lot no matter what. You don't have to believe me, but I'd bet that if you start exercising you'll find that you have a lot more energy than you used to.

The body has evolved to release its stored energy for activity, but if you're not active, the body isn't going to cough up the stored energy. When you're up and moving the body is giving you the energy it has saved for action. If you're not doing much at all, the body assumes that that energy won't be used and stores it in fat cells for future use.

Do people get sick or feel sick when they're nervous? My stomach feels like it's in knots

 

[Living Contradiction]

*snip*

*snippity*

*snip*

Do people get sick or feel sick when they're nervous? My stomach feels like it's in knots

Frequently, Quiet. Being nervous or scared can cause all manner of aches and pains. A public speaker or actor may throw up before giving a big speech or starting a show. Folks about to get married get jittery and can faint on the eve of their weddings.

Have a glass of water and listen to some music that you find relaxing. Remind yourself that you were hired because you could do the job. You wouldn't be there if you couldn't do it. Remember to let yourself breathe and when your shift ends, smile. You made it.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

It might be that a normal sleep schedule won't work for you anymore. You could look into alternate sleep schedules like polyphasic sleeping, and to help adjust to your new schedule you can use melatonin. Exercising will help you a lot. Even if you just exercise 15-30 minutes a day you'll be surprised how much energy it'll give you, eating healthy will help too. If you have breaks at work you could actually use them to exercise, take a jog around the parking lot or something. When you start exercising a lot then you start to feel super pumped after you finish exercising, so it'll actually help a lot for keeping energized and staying awake.

Caffeine and other energy supplements can be very helpful short term tools, but they tend to build tolerance and can even be legitimately addictive (especially if you're drinking energy drinks like NOS or something). Use them at first if they help, but don't let them become a crutch.

Anyways, best of luck at your new job, I'm sure you'll figure out how to manage with it.

Wouldn't exercising make me more tired?

No, that's a really common misconception, but it couldn't be more wrong. There's a reason that people with insomnia are told not to exercise less than five hours before they plan to sleep, the chemicals it releases into your system give you a lot of energy. Not to mention, the healthier you are the more energy you have, and exercising is absolutely vital for being healthy. If you're out of shape and eat badly, you're going to feel tired a lot no matter what. You don't have to believe me, but I'd bet that if you start exercising you'll find that you have a lot more energy than you used to.

The body has evolved to release its stored energy for activity, but if you're not active, the body isn't going to cough up the stored energy. When you're up and moving the body is giving you the energy it has saved for action. If you're not doing much at all, the body assumes that that energy won't be used and stores it in fat cells for future use.

Do people get sick or feel sick when they're nervous? My stomach feels like it's in knots

Yeah, it's not uncommon at all. As a result of my mother (who had good intentions, but was afraid of EVERYTHING) I was told so many stories about what could go wrong as a kid that I was a nervous wreck all the time. It was so bad in Jr. High that I would get terribly sick every day from a combination of social anxieties and performance anxieties (about school work). And by terribly sick, I mean that at least once a day I had to get excused from class to go to the bathroom to expel acidic waste from my system. A couple times I didn't even make it and had to go home. I went to a specialist doctor who determined that my problems were a combination of stress and undiagnosed lactose intolerance. Drastically lowering my intake of milk products helped a lot, but the stress still made me really sick.

As I've gotten older I've developed a lot of techniques and found a lot of tools to help so that not only is my stress more manageable, but most of the time I don't even feel stressed. One of the most valuable things you can learn is how to enter trance states, either through meditation or self-hypnosis. That can be difficult to learn, but it'll help a lot with stress. Meditation especially, if you get into Eastern metaphysics (particularly Hindu metaphysics, and to a slightly lesser extent Buddhist metaphysics), it can help give you the sort of perspective that is hardly conducive to stress at all. I also took up smoking, which helps me a lot. I guess I probably shouldn't be endorsing smoking, since most people tend to look at it negatively, but I know that keeping a moderate amount of nicotine in my system really helps me chill out, and I guess if you wanted you don't necessarily even have to smoke for it (for instance, I've read about people who never smoked a day in their lives, but who wear nicotine patches because that tiny continuous release of nicotine really helps keep things chill). I would do that myself except that I find the act of smoking itself pleasant, and the nicotine patches are kind of expensive. Also, if you do start exercising, the feel good chemicals that it releases into the body can also help reduce stress, so that's just one more reason to pick up a regular exercise routine.

I don't know if any of that advice will help you or not, but if you decide to try any of it, I do hope it helps. I remember what that was like getting sick cause of stress. It sucks, and I sympathize with you and hope you get it figured out.