useful drug or placebo

i’ve never really slept well.  at least since high school, i’ve been a restless sleeper.  jokingly, i tell people i don’t make my bed because the next night everything ends up on the floor anyway.  in fact, it’s true.  i sleep with no sheets on the bed most of the time, because i end up having to redo it all the next day; it’s kind of a pain.

in the past (not so much anymore) i would go through periods when i wouldn’t really sleep at all.  while it probably wasn’t technically insomnia, i always figured it was about as close as one person could get to insomnia and still get some sleep.  during those periods, i’d average about 1-3 hours of useful sleep a night.  thankfully, those periods didn’t last very long, maybe a week, maybe two, but eventually i think sheer exhaustion took over and i’d catch up on what i’d missed and get back to my cycle of 4-6 hours of sleep, which i’d make up on the weekends, because i could simply stay in bed longer.

about a week ago, i started taking melatonin before going to bed.  is a suppliment, so i guess not technically a drug, over-the-counter, or otherwise.  it seems to be helping, though the thought occurred to me tonight; is it really helping or is it simply acting like a placebo?  while a part of me doesn’t like the idea of my brain playing tricks on me (which i guess it does often, anyway), ultimately does it matter?  if the stuff is helping me sleep better, and so feel better, should i really care if it actually works, or if my brain has tricked me into thinking it works.

either way, i take it 30 minutes before going to bed, and i’m at about 25.  g’night.

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