Woman divides TikTok with unusual hack for falling asleep faster: 'This isn't gonna work'

A psychology graduate student claims to have the secret to falling asleep faster — and she’s letting all of TikTok in on it.

On Feb. 13, user @psychologee shared the trick that her psychology professor gave her for “falling asleep in 5 minutes,” which, she says, cured her insomnia.

“This changed my life!” she added in the caption of the video.

The trick itself is surprisingly simple and doesn’t require any gimmicky supplements or subscription-based apps. According to @psychologee, all you have to do fall asleep faster is “start listing things in your head [that] aren’t directly related” and “the more random, the better.”

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Since many people are kept up by anxiety and overthinking, this mental trick can distract from unwanted, intrusive thoughts by making you focus on words and phrases that have no association with each other. Other tried-and-true methods for curing insomnia, like articulatory suppression and imagery distraction, use similar techniques to lure the focus toward words, phrases and images with either no emotional significance or positive emotional significance.

Many TikTokers expressed their gratitude for the insomnia cure in the comments and said that they were able to use it to actually fall asleep faster.

“Can I just say this helped me a lot. Thank you,” one person said.

“OMG YES I WAS ALSO TOLD THAT IT WORKS SO WELL,” another added.

“Yesss I do this and it works,” a third confirmed.

Some other users, however, noted that since they have anxiety and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it might be harder for them to make a list of words and not find a way to link them together in their mind.

“I know my brain, [I] will start finding the link between the word[s] and won’t fall asleep until it doesn’t find it,” one person said.

“Yeah but then I’d overthink it and find ways for them to be connected or related,” another added.

“I’ve tried this but it just keeps me awake thinking,” a third noted.

Of course, not every trick for falling asleep quickly works on everyone, but if you’re struggling with insomnia, it’s definitely worth a shot! And if your insomnia persists, consult a somnologist to see if you can get to the root of your issues and find something that works for you.

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If you liked this story, check out the 12 things that can help you get a restful night’s sleep.

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