Anita Salimi describes insomnia as one of the worst feelings in the world, likening being awake when she hasn’t slept to walking around in a dream-like state. “It’s awful,” she says.
“When I cannot sleep I lie there thinking about what has happened during the day and what could happen tomorrow. I get frustrated and worried about being awake – I think I have to be up tomorrow and I know I will be so tired.”
Salimi says the horrible feeling she gets when she cannot sleep is intensified when she is staying over at friends’. Her insomnia got so bad during her A-levels that she stayed up for a day and a half straight, affecting her results.
“I was really stressed during my exams … I went to see the doctor and she didn’t give me any medication but just handed me a leaflet about sleep hygiene [habits and practices that are conducive to sleeping well on a regular basis],” she says.
Salimi, now 18, says sleep has been a problem for her since a young age. “I never had a routine bedtime. My mum did try but I was always restless and could never sleep,” she says, adding that it got worse when she became a teenager.
“I could not sleep until the early hours of the morning. Sometimes I went to school on no sleep at all,” she says.
Salimi moves between insomnia and oversleeping in a cyclical pattern. She has sought help from doctors and psychiatrists who encouraged her to practise good sleep patterns, for example not looking at her phone before bed, but nothing has worked.
Salimi believes more young people now experience sleep problems because of growing mental health problems, particularly anxiety. “We have a lot more to worry about than older generations,” she says.
Salimi says her problems still persist and she is not sure what would help. “It’s certainly very difficult. I often don’t sleep until the early hours of the morning. I occasionally go into college on four hours of sleep. I already did my A-levels but did not do very well so went back to college to do applied science BTEC. It’s hard to come home from a long day at college and get on with work when you’ve not had enough sleep.”
She adds that more support from the NHS would be helpful. “It’s one of those things we don’t look at enough because you can go and make an appointment to speak to GP about it. But they will give the same answers, they will tell you to look at your sleep hygiene but [that’s] not always possible for everyone. Some people need more support than that, therapy maybe or hypnosis to look at the underlying reasons.
“Sleep is so important. A bad night’s rest affects not only your mental health but your physical health too. I often find myself catching colds and flu more easily. When my insomnia is at its worse I get migraines too … Trouble sleeping should not be overlooked … There needs to be more focus on making time for a good night’s sleep or seeking help if you’re struggling with it.”
