Little sleep = stroke

[Isha]

Sleeping has always been a problem for me, tried every advice but finally something strange worked.
listening to boring audio books with headphones

[Ducked]

I can't sleep more than 6 hours a night, no matter how much I try. What do I do? Being a chain-smoker and alcoholic with ridiculously high blood pressure doesn't help, either, I presume. I think I'm a high-risk potential heart attack or stroke victim. Some words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Don't take blood thinning drugs

Rationale? Havn't researched it but intuitively it seems like they'd be good, stroke-avoidance-wise.

[Tomas]

Jiveturkey's advice, from a neurobiology standpoint, is right on. Small goals, small victories, gradual change.

The problem is your brain and the way it's structured*. Your cortex understands that if you don't make changes, you'll likely die a relatively young man. But the part of your brain that controls your emotion-driven, addiction behavior isn't located in your rational, reasonable cortex. It's in your limbic system, it's called your amygdala, and it doesn't respond to reason. It loves alcohol and nicotine and doesn't want you to give those up.

The only way to change behavior that is emotion-driven, such as chain-smoking and alcoholism, is to set goals and stick to them. But you must have a very strong motivation for doing so, or your amygdala will hijack you over and over again. So maybe the thing that will work best is to decide whether you want to live or die and, should you decide to live (I very much hope this is your decision), tell yourself every day that you will die if you don't change your behavior. Another approach is self-loathing, though I don't recommend that. I think deciding that you love certain people and certain things in life enough to want to live and, therefore, change, is the best approach. Personally, I think of my little girl and my wife, and imagine how they'll feel if I kill myself with stupid habits. I'm not perfect at it (nobody is--we always backslide; the key is overall forward movement), but this helps a great deal.

You might also try replace your death-inducing behavior with something that promotes life, because if you give up smoking and drinking, you'll experience a great sense of loss. That's probably what scares you the most. Personally, all of my health-damaging behavior is related to a sense of loss and a desire to compensate myself after working so hard. What can you replace these things with that you love? I'm not sure if detoxification programs will help you or not, but I think they're worth looking into. Your life depends on finding a solution.

*If we have a neurobiologist on the boards (urodacus?), feel free to correct any errors in my explanation. I write this based on what I understand about the brain from my work in innovation training and performance coaching.

[finley]

+1 to Jive Turkey's suggestions. All of them. I don't buy the theory that if you can't sleep, it's because you're not taking enough pills. Sleeping is as natural as eating, drinking and sex. If it's all gone kaput, it's usually because there's something wrong with your lifestyle. Modern lifestyles are horribly unhealthy and we constantly get subtle encouragements to smoke, drink, and sit in front of the shit pipe. We're rats in a cage pushing levers for food pellets. What's surprising is that we don't all have problems sleeping.

[Charlie Phillips]

I can't sleep more than 6 hours a night, no matter how much I try. What do I do? Being a chain-smoker and alcoholic with ridiculously high blood pressure doesn't help, either, I presume. I think I'm a high-risk potential heart attack or stroke victim. Some words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Don't take blood thinning drugs

Rationale? Havn't researched it but intuitively it seems like they'd be good, stroke-avoidance-wise.

Yes, but they can cause all kinds of other problems. Don't just depend on your intuition.

This post does not constitute medical advice. Please disregard this post and consult with a medical professional. Nothing written on the Internet by anyone can possibly point to truthful possibilities. Anything starting with the prefix 'wiki' should be especially avoided. People are advised to take statins with their regular medicines. Drugs are good but only if prescribed by a medical professional. Substances added to your water supply or food sources have been deemed to be beneficial and you shouldn't question your elders.

[Ducked]

Choose life.

You can always change your mind later.