Dr. Kleitman also says that the people who worry aboutinsomnia usually sleep far more than they realise. The man whoswears “I never slept a wink last night” may have slept for hourswithout knowing it. For example， one of the most profoundthinkers of the nineteenth century， Herbert Spencer， was anold bachelor， lived in a boarding house， and bored everyonewith his talk about his insomnia. He even put “stoppings” in hisears to keep out the noise and quiet his nerves. Sometimes hetook opium to induce sleep. One night he and Professor Sayceof Oxford shared the same room at a hotel. The next morningSpencer declared he hadn’t slept a wink all night. In reality， it wasProfessor Sayce who hadn’t slept a wink. He had been kept awakeall night by Spencer’s snoring.
The first requisite for a good night’s sleep is a feeling ofsecurity. We need to feel that some power greater than ourselveswill take care of us until morning. Dr. Thomas Hyslop， of theGreat West Riding Asylum， stressed that point in an addressbefore the British Medical Association. He said：“One of the bestsleep—producing agents which my years of practice have revealedto me—is prayer. I say this purely as a medical man. The exerciseof prayer， in those who habitually exert it， must be regarded asthe most adequate and normal of all the pacifiers of the mind andcalmers of the nerves.”
“Let God—and let go.”
Jeanette MacDonald told me that when she was depressedand worried and had difficulty in going to sleep， she could alwaysget “a feeling of security” by repeating Psalm XXII： “The Lordis my Shepherd； I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down ingreen pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters....”
But if you are not religious， and have to do things the hardway， then learn to relax by physical measures. Dr. David Harold Fink， who wrote Release from Nervous Tension， says that thebest way to do this is to talk to your body. According to Dr.
Fink， words are the key to all kinds of hypnosis； and when youconsistently can’t sleep， it is because you have talked yourselfinto a case of insomnia. The way to undo this is to dehypnotiseyourself—and you can do it by saying to the muscles of yourbody：“Let go， let go—loosen up and relax.” We already know thatthe mind and nerves can’t relax while the muscles are tense—soif we want to go to sleep， we start with the muscles. Dr. Finkrecommends—and it works out in practice—that we put a pillowunder the knees to ease the tension on the legs， and that we tucksmall pillows under the arms for the very same reason. Then， bytelling the jaw to relax， the eyes， the arms， and the legs， we finallydrop off to sleep before we know what has hit us. I’ve tried it—Iknow. If you have trouble sleeping， get hold of Dr. Fink’s book，Release from Nervous Tension， which I have mentioned earlierIt is the only book I know of that is both lively reading and a curefor insomnia.
One of the best cures for insomnia is making yourselfphysically tired by gardening， swimming， tennis， golf， skiing， orby just plain physically exhausting work. That is what TheodoreDreiser did. When he was a struggling young author， he wasworried about insomnia， so he got a job working as a sectionhand on the New York Central Railway； and after a day of drivingspikes and shoveling gravel， he was so exhausted that he couldhardly stay awake long enough to eat.
If we get tired enough， nature will force us to sleep even whilewe are walking. To illustrate， when I was thirteen years old， myfather shipped a car-load of fat hogs to Saint Joe， Missouri. Sincehe got two free railroad passes， he took me along with him. Upuntil that time， I had never been in a town of more than four thousand. When I landed in Saint Joe—a city of sixty thousand—Iwas agog with excitement. I saw skyscrapers six storeys highand—wonder of wonders—I saw a street-car. I can close myeyes now and still see and hear that street-car. After the mostthrilling and exciting day of my life， Father and I took a trainback to Ravenwood， Missouri. Arriving there at two o’clock inthe morning， we had to walk four miles home to the farm. Andhere is the point of the story： I was so exhausted that I slept anddreamed as I walked. I have often slept while riding horseback.
And I am alive to tell it！
When men are completely exhausted they sleep right throughthe thunder and horror and danger of war. Dr. Foster Kennedy，the famous neurologist， tells me that during the retreat of theFifth British Army in 1918， he saw soldiers so exhausted thatthey fell on the ground where they were and fell into a sleep assound as a coma. They didn’t even wake up when he raised theireyelids with his fingers. And he says he noticed that invariablythe pupils of the eyes were rolled upward in the sockets. “Afterthat，” says Dr. Kennedy， “when I had trouble sleeping， I wouldpractice rolling up my eyeballs into this position， and I found thatin a few seconds I would begin to yawn and feel sleepy. It was anautomatic reflex over which I had no control.”
No man ever committed suicide by refusing to sleep and noone ever will. Nature would force a man to sleep in spite of all hiswill power. Nature will let us go without food or water far longerthan she will let us go without sleep.
Speaking of suicide reminds me of a case that Dr. HenryC. Link describes in his book， The Rediscovery of Man. Dr.
Link is vice-president of The Psychological Corporation and heinterviews many people who are worried and depressed. In his “On Overcoming Fears and Worries”， he tells about a392 ·
patient who wanted to commit suicide. Dr. Link knew arguingwould only make the matter worse， so he said to this man： “If youare going to commit suicide anyway， you might at least do it in aheroic fashion. Run around the block until you drop dead.”
He tried it， not once but several times， and each time feltbetter， in his mind if not in his muscles. By the third night hehad achieved what Dr. Link intended in the first place—he wasso physically tired （and physically relaxed） that he slept like alog. Later he joined an athletic club and began to compete incompetitive sports. Soon he was feeling so good he wanted to livefor ever！
So， to keep from worrying about insomnia， here are rules 5：
1. If yon can’t sleep， do what Samuel Untermyer did. Get up andwork or read until you do feel sleepy.
2. Remember that no one was ever killed by lack of sleep.
Worrying about insomnia usually causes far more damage thansleeplessness.
3. Try prayer.
4. Relax your body.
5. Exercise. Get yourself so physically tired you can’t stay awake.
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