Better Tech, Better Sleep Pt. 1

**I’m gonna split this post into 2-3 posts because it might be a lot of content.**

I have been on a mission, a quest of sorts, in pursuit of better sleep. I feel that many of my issues (sure I'm not alone) are/were rooted in poor sleep hygiene.

This will be a multi-post series on my sleep journey.

I don't think I had sleep issues growing up. Sleep was always something that just happened and was routine. In high school, it had a shift to being awake most of the night and sleeping all day... Typical teenager stuff.

Then came the military, where sleep was critical and sought after. Sleep deprivation was a tactic used to create stress and it worked. Every day was physically and mentally exhausting and there just was not enough time for more sleep. 

*Insert deployment rotation*

Traveling through time zones is hard on anyone. Throw in night ops, guard duty, medical rotations, and compound attacks... Well, it gets crazy quickly. We get used to it, get into a rhythm, and make it work. 

*Redeploy home*

No processing time. No adjustment period. We try to re-integrate but it's hard. Even with our train up cycle... It's difficult to find that rhythm. 

*Deployment rotation*

Now add in IEDs and more gunfights. 

*Redeploy home*

Sleep is trash. It's making home life hell but I don't know where to start to fix it. 

*Deployment rotation*

We’re gonna substitute the gunfights with abuse patients and trauma injuries. Burn wound debridement, minor surgery, and a mass casualty event. Let that bounce around between the ears, then...

*Redeploy home*

I'm tired. I'm angry. I'm culturally disoriented. 

I can't sleep... And when I can, I don't want to because of the nightmares. So I drink more, which makes my sleep worse. I'm more tired, and angrier. This cycle self-perpetuates into a life-altering event.

Where could I have changed? Done something differently? 

It could have started with recognizing that my sleep was no longer in sync with my daily demands. I was running on minimal restorative sleep and building a large sleep debt… but I didn’t have to have it that way.

Sleep is simple. It’s fairly black’ish and white’ish. It’s either good sleep or it’s not good sleep. So let’s break it down…

(Continued in Part 2…)