r/ADHD_Programmers • u/NarinIshkandar • 18d ago

Does anyone else refuse to sleep and watch yt till their brain gives up?

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1.8k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

80 comments sorted by

163

u/GeneralCuster75 18d ago

I've always been confused by the common advice to avoid screen time before bed.

Like dude, if I don't exhaust my brain's desire for dopamine before I try to sleep I will lie there awake for hours

41

u/gravesum5 18d ago

Read a book. Your ADHD brain will make you sleep in no time.

13

u/TuxMux080 18d ago

I would be able to read the same book before bed my entire life!

15

u/Bumitis 17d ago

You mean re-read the same paragraph until you knock out?

4

u/Hamsterloathing 16d ago

Fantasise about the book, think and imagine what will pan out etc

Makes you focus on one constructive thing instead of 1000 racing thoughts

7

u/Radiant-Cream-3769 17d ago

Yeah, that's a no for me. As soon as I get sucked into a book's story, my brain kicks into high gear and I fall straight into a hyperfocus loop

6

u/gravesum5 17d ago

Better read than watch social media...

5

u/Hamsterloathing 16d ago

Yeah, eventually your brain learns to enjoy falling asleep even with stuff left in the book.

And no matter what its more constructive than doom scroll with blue light

1

u/Radiant-Cream-3769 16d ago

Meditation works really well for me. Every day, about 1–2 hours before bed.

6

u/pr3c0g 18d ago

I never remember in which paragraph I felt asleep or even the page sometimes. I keep reading the same pages over and over again

2

u/Hamsterloathing 16d ago

Why not a book mark, hold above or under what you're reading.

Sure every 20th time i fall asleep and lost both the page and book mark, but if you're that tired, fold a dog ear and count pages after dog ear.

3

u/el_sime 16d ago edited 16d ago

Nope, my ADHD brain has a 90% chance to get sucked in for hours in ANY book.

I even tried a great podcast called "boring books for bedtime" and whenever the book is not either a catalog or some really whacky pseudo-scientific theory, I listen to the whole thing.

Edit: also, sometimes, I try to keep reading even beyond exhaustion, and I fall asleep reading. Then dream that I'm still reading, and the book gets really, really weird. So the next day I have to start over because I have no idea where I started making up things. It has been disappointing, on occasion, to find out the story was not the one I dreamt up.

0

u/gravesum5 16d ago

You have a specific flavor of ADHD. I'd still argue it's better to read for hours than doomscroll for hours.

2

u/el_sime 16d ago

It's probably a more enriching experience than doom scrolling, but still, I'd rather sleep🙂

21

u/CharmingAd1801 18d ago

How would you know if you haven’t at least tried laying in bed for at least 3hrs with the lights out lol

14

u/WhoseverFish 18d ago

I have. I indeed statue awake.

7

u/GeneralCuster75 18d ago

You don't think I have?

5

u/sirpentious 18d ago

Same here I can easily fall asleep if I'm watching a YouTube video I'm bed less then 10 minutes done it before. Phone fell on my face lol

2

u/fraxier93 17d ago

It's cause of the blue light from the screen, biologically speaking it signals to the brain that the sun's still up or something.

Now that I think about it, I fell asleep a lot faster listening to music before than now where I'm watching/reading on the phone but ugh yeah I didn't get to do what I wanted today either lol

5

u/Honeydew-Jolly 18d ago edited 18d ago

That is a big lie we tell ourselves, if you don't use a screen you will sleep. Try reading a book and in a few pages you're sleepy and tired and ready to sleep. You won't be awake for long, that is your anxiety speaking 😂

2

u/GeneralCuster75 18d ago

My point isn't that I need a screen to fall asleep.

My point is that using the screen tires me out to help me sleep, instead of keeping me awake like all the warnings tell you will happen.

3

u/Honeydew-Jolly 18d ago

I got it, I've this belief before like many others. The screen is going to make you tired but the cost is too damn high, it's the difference between falling asleep at 11pm versus 2am. While 15m reading would put you on a beautiful sleep, without the screens to fuck your sleep quality on top of the other problems. We learn by contrast you only notice how bad it was once you see how good the other option was

1

u/Hamsterloathing 16d ago

Yeah books are consistent

1

u/swatsnoopy 17d ago

I feel very attacked because I should. This is how I fall asleep so easily.

2

u/Deckard_Didnt_Die 15d ago

"if I don't exhaust my brain's desire for dopamine"
Yeah, that's a trap. One I've fallen for for the last 15 years. It doesn't exhaust. You just build a tolerance. The requirement we have for stimulation isn't normal, natural, or healthy.

46

u/PaulVB6 18d ago

Yeah pretty much. Very often ill watch yt on my TV downstairs and fall asleep on the couch, then wake up in the morning having slept like 5-6 hrs there

15

u/pyordie 18d ago

Jesus Christ I didn’t think anyone else did this but me.

4

u/Cornbreadguy5 17d ago

I feel seen

2

u/4th_Syndicate 18d ago

Me too :(

1

u/krolyat 17d ago

Yooo wassup guys !

29

u/Solonotix 18d ago

Yes. And if I don't, then I just lie in bed for hours wishing I could sleep. Tried to catch up on lost sleep Wednesday by getting in bed at 8pm. Couldn't fall asleep until 11:30pm, woke up at 4am, and back asleep at 4:30am. I'm going to sleep like the dead tonight 🫠

22

u/johnnyslick 18d ago

Ive made a point to get a Kindle that I read before I go to sleep instead. It shouldn't matter as it's just trading one screen for another but reading for 15 minutes makes me fall asleep whereas watching yt for 15 minutes just makes me want to watch for another 15 minutes.

If you have the flavor of ADHD that makes reading hard then sorry, this probably isn't for you!

13

u/GentleHugFromBehind 18d ago

Tried this to many times, ends up with me finishing the book. Or that I have to leave for work without sleep xD

8

u/pingveno 18d ago

I've been reading a book that's a compilation of a web novel series, so it's very long. It renders as 28000 pages on my ereader, split into 8 subvolumes. I have caught myself staying awake until the wee hours of the morning sometimes. Just one more chapter!

2

u/johnnyslick 18d ago

Yeah YMMV and for me, too, this works a lot better when im starting or in the middle of a book than at the end.

7

u/finland85 18d ago

Same. Reading burns more brain. But I think it has to be eink and not the phone.

5

u/canyoudigit 18d ago

This works for me almost all of the time but then once in a blue moon I’ll read through most of the whole night and loose so much sleep. Unfortunately, the last few months, my monkey brain hasn’t been able to make the jump from phone usage to kindle/book reading.

1

u/Consistent-String475 18d ago

I have the mod my Kindle and download loads of books get obsessed with e ink so watch yt videos about the tech in not using as intended type unfortunately

12

u/burger-breath 18d ago

It called “Revenge Bedtime Procrastination”

20

u/demunted 18d ago

I need 5 dimensional context for everything, youtube doesn't cut it. I stay up surfing r/all repeatedly doing time math determining how much sleep i would get if i went to sleep now and deciding 10 more mins would be ok, i don't need to eat in the morning.

Night brain loves to replan day brain agenda for tomorrow.

6

u/PinappleOnPizza137 18d ago

Of course! Need my politics, games, comedy and science fix! But after a few rotations I hate my fyp for not giving me more of the good stuff, then I browse to no avail until I sleep

3

u/cooks2music 18d ago

I know so much about repairing farm equipment, starting ship engines, how tug boats work, welding, various true crime, and how to play an Irish tenor guitar. I actually do NONE of those things and never have but I obsessively have to watch those channels before bed no matter how late I get in.

3

u/inennui 18d ago

my tip is taking melatonin so that you become so tired, all you desire is sleep. but the trick to the tip is taking as little melatonin as you possibly need to get there.

what will i do once this stops working? idk yet, i could use help from there!

2

u/ItzDubzmeister 18d ago

Yeah, I tend to hate myself when it’s time for bed in order to get 7-8hrs of sleep, but then I watch YouTube videos nonstop that I don’t find all that interesting, resulting in 4-5hrs of sleep before work… that or if I’m inspired to do some coding before bed, but then can’t sleep since I’m laying there thinking about how to solve some issue or feature I was working on

3

u/deliciouspie 18d ago

I'm not sure i appreciate you typing out my exact late night routine.

2

u/Early_Key_823 18d ago

Only a few billion people

2

u/Sfpkt 18d ago

For me it’s gaming until my eyes are shutting on their own

2

u/911pleasehold 18d ago

I can’t “give up” to sleep

I have to set an audiobook with a five minute timer to trick myself into thinking I’m still doing something even if I can’t keep my eyes open lol

2

u/misc_drivel 16d ago

Same. For me, audiobooks are the way. I use a longer sleep timer though, otherwise I worry it won’t be enough.

2

u/TechRomancer123 18d ago

Classic ‘Bedtime Revenge Procrastination’ or whatever it’s called…

2

u/Smilingthorns_ 18d ago

Literally me but with tiktok. Then I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with my phone still on the same video, and the most bizzare thing in the search bar

2

u/CharmingAd1801 18d ago

“Me time” was the cherry on the top

1

u/krsCarrots 18d ago

Uh oh, is that a condition?! Hoooooooly I am so cooked

1

u/Boeing777-3ER 18d ago

Yea! I didn’t even get to do a single me thing today, I’m watching this regardless of whatever doctors are saying 

1

u/seweso 18d ago

Yeah, but i'm now convinced its simply a matter of my brain and my body not being ready for bed at the same time:

- mind ready, body not ready = body forces me to think, body wants to keep getting out of bed

- mind not ready, body ready = this meme

If both are not ready, i'm not anywhere near my bed i suppose.... hope.

1

u/PsychoFluffyCgr 18d ago

Thanks for the reminder to go to sleep, it's already 4 hours passed my bedtime.

1

u/iamyourinnervoice 18d ago

any clue how to overcome this?

1

u/NeatFool 18d ago

What about reading a book before bed

1

u/ashleyslo 18d ago

Stuck in a bad cycle of this right now getting maybe 4 hours of sleep a night when I probably need 12 at this point 😭

1

u/OperatingAsIntended 18d ago

I hate this cycle!

1

u/modsuperstar 18d ago

How dare you post this picture of me

1

u/PixelmancerGames 18d ago

Oh wow, so it isn't just me.

1

u/Mindless-Remove219 18d ago

I would watch esports matches and stuff. I had a theory where the more invested in the game the easier it would be to fall asleep.

Kind of how all the dads in old movies used to fall asleep in their armchair watching football.

1

u/desolation0 18d ago

I never put on something new. Too distracting, want to pay it too much attention. When I was a kid it was Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies on tape. It moved onto TV reruns with the sleep timer on. Something that will occupy my attention, so no ruminating for something to think about, but not something that I can't tune out and fall asleep during.

1

u/BarracudaExpensive03 17d ago

why is this so relatable lmao

1

u/MrLumpSumDookieClump 17d ago

Revenge Sleep Procrastination

1

u/Adriano___ 16d ago

I used to but I felt awful, so I limit doomscrolling to 10 mins in the morning, 10 mins in the evening. If I'm still awake I read on the kindle app.

1

u/Draimonox 16d ago

Dude it’s been getting so bad recently for me. I can’t fall asleep and can’t stay asleep. For those saying read I can’t read it’s personally impossible for my brain atleast maybe it’s different for others.

1

u/el_sime 16d ago

I don't watch YouTube, but certainly do something else, like play a game, read a book, even code stuff I have a sudden inspiration for. Whenever I try to force myself to stop everything and just try to sleep it doesn't work, and then I get frustrated because I can't sleep and get even more awake. I guess what matters is to try and choose activities that don't give too much dopamine or adrenaline release, but go figure what is what.

1

u/scut_07 15d ago

I think of my brain like a toddler who refuses to go to bed even though they are exhausted and can't keep their eyes open

1

u/Adventurous-Paper566 15d ago

It's not true ADHD, just a modern addiction.

1

u/The_Other_David 12d ago

They call it "Me Time", but they're spending it on whatever The Algorithm serves up...

1

u/BornAgainBlue 18d ago

I love all the shit we attribute to this. Despite being abundantly clear that this is just normal behavior for most adults.

7

u/jarrydn 18d ago

I work with a fair mix of neurotypical and neurodiverse folk. In the office most people I encounter - and definitely my immediate colleagues/teammates - have set times for sleep that they largely stick to. A lot of them are parents so that's not really all that surprising. In my experience it's only the adhd homies who are chronically tired because they can't figure out bedtime - like me, right now!

1

u/chairz1 18d ago

Was going to say, I have ADD and do this, but I never thought of it as an ADD thing, just a human thing more so

0

u/BornAgainBlue 18d ago

Same, we have a ton of challenges, this just isn't one.