How I coped with sleep problems

I was working for a firm in Monaghan, and had forged a good career there, spanning 20 years, since I’d first qualified. I started to feel exhausted all the time, mainly because I wasn’t sleeping very well. I couldn’t work out why: I loved my job, I had a good home life, my parents and siblings lived nearby and were all in good health, and yet I had started waking up during the small hours and being unable to get back to sleep.

 I went to see the doctor, who prescribed sleeping tablets. The sleeping tablets did help me to get to sleep, but I didn’t really like taking them, so I didn’t take them every night. However, even on the nights when I did get off to sleep, I would find myself feeling restless, low and frustrated the next day, and I knew that the quality of my work had started to suffer.

I decided to seek some more support, so I contacted the LawCare Helpline. The person I spoke to suggested that I look honestly at what might be causing my poor sleeping patterns. She asked me questions such as ‘did I bring work home and work on it late at night?’; ‘was I feeling stressed and going over things in my mind?’; and ‘did I have a proper, relaxing night-time routine?’. I was unable to pinpoint anything specific, and I did admit that although I had a happy life, I didn’t feel happy.

After more discussion, LawCare  suggested that I visit my GP as some of my symptoms could be indicators of depression, and that my  poor sleeping pattern could be  a symptom, rather than the cause of, my listlessness. I realised from talking with LawCare that my poor concentration and  irritability, that I had put down to lack of sleep, could be symptoms of depression.

Although I could not pinpoint anything specific - I had not suffered bereavement or been under any long-term stress – I was very relieved to have a possible explanation for my issues. I saw my GP and was subsequently able to resolve my sleeplessness and other issues.