If you’ve ever been told to ‘just put the phone away’ or ‘try a warm bath’ and found yourself lying in the dark feeling itchy, anxious, or bombarded by a thousand thoughts, you aren’t doing it wrong. You might just have a high-stimulation brain.
Standard sleep hygiene (that familiar checklist we’re all told to follow) is designed for a ‘typical’ nervous system. But for many people, especially those with ADHD, anxiety, or high sensory processing needs, these rules can actively trigger a stress response rather than calm one.
Here’s why the standard advice fails you, and what to do instead.
The ‘Silence’ Trap
Standard Advice: Keep the room quiet.
The High-Stim Reality
For a busy brain, total silence is rarely peaceful, it’s a vacuum that the brain rushes to fill with internal chatter, rumination, and replaying the day.
When you remove external input, your Default Mode Network (DMN) (the part of the brain responsible for self-referential thought) kicks into overdrive. For you, silence isn’t peaceful; it’s loud.
The ‘No Screens’ Conflict
Standard Advice: No blue light 60 minutes before bed.
The High-Stim Reality
While blue light does impact melatonin (although doesn’t necessarily make much dfference to how quickly you fall asleep), many high-stim individuals use screens as a regulatory tool, not a distraction.
A familiar TV show, a low-stakes game, or a trusted YouTube creator acts as a ‘dopamine anchor’: giving the brain just enough background noise to prevent it spiralling into anxiety. Forcing yourself to stare at the ceiling often causes a spike in cortisol which is far more disruptive to sleep than a little blue light.
One caveat: on YouTube, favour longer content over Shorts. Short-form video is designed to be frantic, and won’t help you wind down.
‘Relaxation’ as a Demand
Standard Advice: Try a 20-minute meditation.
The High-Stim Reality
If your brain struggles with transitions, being told to ‘relax’ can feel like a high-pressure demand, the opposite of relaxing.
This is often called Relaxation-Induced Anxiety. The harder you try to feel calm, the more frustrated you become that you aren’t ‘there’ yet — pushing sleep further away.
A New Framework: Low-Demand Regulation
Instead of fighting your brain’s need for stimulation, provide controlled, low-demand input instead.
| Standard Advice | The High-Stim Pivot | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
| No Screens | Audiobooks or Podcasts | Gives the brain a narrative to follow so it doesn’t self-generate stressful thoughts |
| Total Silence | Brown Noise | Lower frequencies ‘mask’ internal thoughts more effectively than white noise |
| Meditation | Fidgeting or ‘Stimming’ | Textured blankets or quiet fidget toys provide sensory grounding that lowers heart rate |
| Total Darkness | Low-Amber Lighting | Warm, dim amber light feels safe and cosy; total darkness can feel disorienting |
The Takeaway
Your brain doesn’t need to be empty to sleep, it needs to feel safe. If a specific rule makes you feel more awake or more anxious, drop it. Your goal isn’t to follow a checklist. It’s to find the specific sensory ‘sweet spot’ that allows your nervous system to finally let go.