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Insomniacs Explain What Actually Helps Them Fall Asleep

Falling asleep and insomnia have been hot topics in the media for more than a decade. Is the reason you can't sleep because of your bad sleep habits—inconsistent bedtime, hitting snooze every morning, drinking alcohol before bed, etc.—or is it that evilblue light we've all been warned emanates from our beloved electronic devices?


Different tricks work for different people, so if you're struggling to get a few good hours of shuteyw, take a look at some of these ways that fellow insomniacs relax and drift off to see if any of them work for you.

Reddit user u/20shepherd01 asked:

"Insomniacs of Reddit, what helps you sleep?"

10.

Like a lot of folks mentioned, melatonin and white noise (though I prefer "brown" noise better tonally, it's more like a fan whirring that tv static) helps for me.

I have adhd so winding down is important and staying off my phone. So lately I have been working on building better sleep hygiene and using an app called "Sleep Town" that has a scheduled "sleep" time that basically keeps me off my phone and focusing on going to bed.

It will navigate you away from any app that you try to open while its switched on to sleep mode and doesnt interfere with Spotify, which is nice since I use that for white noise.
app is on android, idk about iPhone

-nodnoa

9.

Easiest question ever. I read a chapter of my AP Biology textbook. I guarantee you that book will knock you out any day of the week.

-OP-RandomBystander

Same strategy, Statistical Methods for Engineers.

-lefroyd

8.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation. Start by trying to relax your toes until you can barely feel them, then the soles of your feet, calves, etc.. trick I learned from a military friend. Usually out by the time I get to my waist.

-dyljeffr

7.

My younger brother is an insomniac from child hood trauma while sleeping. Nothing my parents did but my neighbours. They had this motor bike they'd rev outside his window when he was a baby and it terrified him.

He couldn't sleep unless he was with my dad. And obviously this became a problem when he got older. He was around 7 and my dad would have to sit with him every night till he fell asleep. We tried therapy, teddies, whale noises. All of it. I recommended headphones rather than playing the noises aloud in the room as it was outside noises that upset him.
So he started going to bed listening to whale noises in headphones and it worked. Now he sleeps with AirPods / any wireless headphones he's got charged, playing night time playlists on Spotify and he can't sleep without them. He's better now but it's made him a complete daddies boy.

-Crimson_poppies

6.

I don't ascribe to 'tingles' but a lot of ASMR videos deal with white noise like tapping or whispering, gentle rain sounds and the like that help me dose off at night. I don't know if there is a correlation but a lot of "t*tty" ASMRists actually have very pleasant voices as well, usually I just pull their videos, put my phone face down or minimize the video on my computer, then pick up a book and a cup of sleepy tea and just let it put me to sleep. Anything that's massage or just 'conversationalist' will knock me out.

-Wazer-Renzaw

5.

Sleep with Me podcast works every time!

-DisIsDisWhoDis

It's almost magical. When i'm having a restless night i just pop this podcast on and i'm asleep in ten minutes tops.

-pakkoisa

4.

Overworking myself during the day seems to do the trick, although I cannot guarantee the healthiness of this approach

-User Account Deleted

Same double shift life helps me get 8 hour of sleep.

-CreativeTurnip

3.

I have major insomnia because of my schizophrenia. My mind just can't turn off at night. I have not had a sleep schedule since I went crazy 10 years ago. For Christmas this year I got a huge weighted blanket and holy shit it works!!! I can actually lay down at a decent hour go to sleep in 15 minutes. I can actively feel my mind fighting against the weight of the blanket but it just starts sputtering out and then there is actual silence and I go to sleep. Because of my disease I also wake up about 8 times a night and sometimes I can't go back to sleep but the weighted blanket makes me stay asleep. I can't believe it. I haven't slept this well this consistently in almost a decade. I absolutely love it. I can't reccomend it enough.

-Cannabillistichokie

2.

Music, but don't fall asleep to it just let it relax you, then stop the music and sleep. Also for me, never think 'this position is comfortable' because for me when I do that it immediately stops being comfortable

-MattLee10

1.

Do you have Alexa? Alexa, Make it Rain!

White noise bliss on a loop.

-shortdamlewis

Infamous Movie Plot Holes Explained

Reddit user Animeking1108 asked: 'What infamous movie plot hole has an explanation that you're tired of explaining?'

Jurassic World arch
Christopher Stark/Unsplash

A movie is only as good as its ending.

Unless audiences are left with a major cliffhanger under the premise there's a planned sequel, all plot points should be resolved to a degree.

However, even the best films that are thoroughly satisfying and enjoyable can lead to a disappointing finale that leaves audiences hanging with no promise of a follow-up. It can be frustrating.

And then there are the thin plot holes that are so arcane, it's nerve-wracking trying to make sense out of them.

Yet, there's somehow logic in them that escapes the minds of audiences with short attention spans.

Curious to hear examples of these, Redditor Animeking1108 asked:

"What infamous movie plot hole has an explanation that you're tired of explaining?"

And...action!

Scenes from these thrilling films left some audiences stumped.

Beast Follows Feast

"In Jurassic World, Claire didn’t 'outrun' the T-Rex (in heels) … because it wasn’t CHASING her. The dinosaur was conditioned to equate the flare with feeding time so it was patiently following her to an anticipated meal. The situation is similar to how zookeepers can have (limited) interactions with lions and bears."

– PARed717

Choosing Correctly

"How does Sarah Connor know which button to press to crush the Terminator in Terminator(1984)?"

"Because she accidentally presses it a few minutes earlier and it set the crusher off, it what lead the Terminator to find them."

– SuvenPan

"Oh, like in The Incredibles where Elastigirl has the remote and Bob tells her to push that button again."

– DBSeamZ

The Glitch In The Machine

"The matrix reloaded the scene where Neo is talking to the architect, the screens behind them are not other ones, it is the predictions the machines are making on Neo’s responses, most of the scenes are incorrect in those predictions, except for when Neo must choose between Trinity and all of humanity, the machines nailed that response on all screens."

– Omegaprimus

These classic examples left some viewers completely flummoxed.

Getting Intimate

"There was a whole topic on the front page a while back about The Truman Show asking about what happens when Truman wants to sleep with his onscreen wife, is that upsetting to her because she’s just an actress, how do they avoid showing it on TV. People offering all kinds of explanations like 'he was raised not to know what sex is.' I thought I was going crazy because not only does the movie directly address this (two guys watching the show complain that the camera always cuts away when Truman and his wife go to bed) but it’s an actual plot point in the movie that she’s trying to have a baby with him so that they can start Truman Show Phase 2, and his obsession with a woman they kicked off the show years ago is ruining the director’s plans."

– plankingatavigil

Remembering Memory Loss

"In Memento, people always wonder how a guy with short-term memory loss remembers he has memory loss. But he’s conditioned himself to say it, just like Sammy was subjected to conditioning in the flashbacks."

– wakeruncollapse

Eavesdropping

"One of Charles Foster Kane’s servants was outside his bedroom when Kane said 'Rosebud.' The door was wide open. The dialogue later confirms that a butler heard Kane’s dying words and reported it to the paper."

– TheNavidsonLP

Establishing Reality Up Front

"FRIENDS. 'How did they pay for that apartment on their salary in New York?'”

"The very first episode, Monica mentions that her grandma owned the apartment, and she would never be able to afford it otherwise!!"

– PleasantFix5

"And it was rent controlled, plus i think it was an illegal sub lease and they had to hide that from the super."

– turkturkeIton

Playing On A Steretype

"I am so late to the party but… Legally Blonde"

'OMG, a dumb blonde sorority girl studied for the LSAT for a summer and aces it? Bullshi*!

"No. No, the point is that Elle Woods was never a 'dumb blonde.' She was always brilliant. Literally the first scene is her interrogating the salesperson and catching them in a lie because she was observant and smart."

"Rather, Elle was pigeonholed by the circumstances of her looks and her privileged upbringing to pursue a vapid life. While inspired by the wrong reasons, it results in her breaking the mold she was confined in so that she is able to reach her full potential."

– Spectrum2081

Is it too much to ask the audience to suspend their disbelief?

It depends on the movie.

Witnessing The Supernatural

"People sometimes wonder how Indiana Jones initially remains sceptical of the mystical events happening in the second film, when he just witnessed a magical ark mass killing a bunch of Nazis in the first film."

"But that's because the second film is a prequel."

– chillyhellion

Accepting The Mythical As Real

"Also the majority of artifacts and myths Indiana Jones interacts with are completely mundane. They have fascinating cultural significance and implications on history, but they're ultimately just mundane. The encounters with the supernatural are clearly rare exceptions he gets caught up in, not his primary field of expertise."

"Like, even if literally Atlantis was discovered right here and now today, that doesn't mean the lost continent of Mu, or the city of El Dorado, or the lost colony of Norumbega, or anything else is real. It means Atlantis is, apparently, real."

– wererat2000

Heightened Awareness

"On watching The Sixth Sense it may seem completely improbable that Bruce Willis' character didn't realize that he was dead. Yet it's explained right there in the movie: ghosts see only what they want to see."

– prosa123

What makes the moviegoing experience enjoyable is the assessment afterward with other cinephiles.

It's fun to discuss the contrasting takeaways each person may have had from watching the same movie.

Occasionally, there are plot holes that seem easily identifiable, but wind up having a perfectly logical explanation behind them, which warrants a second viewing.

But one movie that my friends and I had a difficult time figuring out was Back to the Future.

Even though Marty successfully corrected the course of time with his parents falling love, wouldn't they have recognized their son when he eventually became a teenager?

They each interacted with the catalyst–their future son–who brought them together in the first place after all.

But that's just an example of the suspension of disbelief.

Sometimes, you just gotta go with it.

There are certain things that are bound to get you fired in just about every profession.

Being nasty to colleagues and clients/customers, misusing company money, and first and foremost, not showing up to work.

When it comes to teachers, however, there are even more rules that others might not think of that are guaranteed grounds for dismissal.

Or so we think.

As some teachers manage to get away with shocking, if not downright apalling behavior and still manage to stay in the classroom, and out of the rubber room.

Redditor stockstandardly was curious to hear some of the most outrageous things ever done by teachers who managed to hold on to their jobs, leading them to ask:

"What DIDNT your teacher get fired for?"

You Thought There Was Only One...

"Y4 teacher put gaffer tape over the mouth of talkative students."

"Regularly."

"History Teacher invited me (16yo) over for beers and smokes."- stockstandardly

It Is Possible To Be TOO Close...

"Y5-7 gym teacher showered with us (the boys) because apparently there was chewing gum in the drain in the teacher's shower." - Runkepapir

Nobody Knew, Or Nobody Did Anything?

"I knew of two girls in my grade (age 16-17) that had inappropriate relationships with two separate teachers."

"Nobody was punished because nobody knew."

"Which makes me think this kind of thing probably happens all the time."- Green0livesAndHam

No Harm, No Foul?

"We had this little old lady for our all-male music class(16 years old) and she loved us and we all loved her."

"When we left the class she would slap our bottoms and we'd joke around trying to not get hit and dodging it and just goof off."

"We knew it was absurd and inappropriate and so did she but we all thought it was hilarious."

"I was always worried someone would narc or another teacher would see it and say something."

"She was the best. Hilarious woman and a good teacher."- SkinkaLei

How Much Proof Do They Need?

"Purposely slamming a student’s hand with the door."

"Hard."

"Happened a year after I graduated hs but there’s video footage of it out there somewhere."- lecstasy

Schools Should Be A Safe Haven...

"Telling the whole class to beat me up after school and defending them when I defended myself."- QuiescisMagna

'Spare The Rod And Spoil The Child"?... ABSOLUTELY NOT!

"I remember when I was in elementary school and my sister as well."

"My sister would always come home complaining of her bottom hurting and having trouble sitting."

"Back in school days during the 80s, they would give wooden paddle licks to kids for misbehaving, etc."

"My mother confronted my sister one day for all the complaining."

"She made my sister pull her pants down and saw multiple bruises on her bottom."

"My sister confessed that her teacher was giving paddles to her for however many multiplication problems she missed on her tests."

"Apparently, she was getting licks quite frequently."

"The next morning, when dropping us off at school, my mother was infuriated and stormed into the office and gave them a piece of her mind."

"Showed them the bruises on my sisters bottom."

"My mom fought hard to get the teacher fired, but they never did."

"The only thing they did was move my sister to another room, and the teacher stopped paddling kids."

"My sister never told my mom she got licks."

"I never did either.'

'Because you were scared of getting in trouble at home."

"Because getting licks at school meant you got in trouble at school."

"You didn't want your parents to find out."

"Can you imagine what would happen to the teacher in today's world?"- Safe-Block-7993

TEMPORARY LEAVE?!?!

"8th grade science teacher was asked if putting hair in dry ice as an experiment would create a reaction."

"Teacher said 'let’s see'."

"And proceeds to grab scissors, walk to said student, and cut off a two inch chunk of hair, close to her face, halfway down her waist length hair."

"You could hear a pen drop as he wordlessly walks over and tosses the chunk of hair into the box of dry ice."

"No reaction but he was put on temporary leave a week later."- InternalDreadIncomin

Learning By Anything But Example

"11th grade, teacher was clearly not heard by even a single student to say during a bomb threat that she hopes they blow the whole place up."

"This is after her husband got fired for knocking up a student."

"Not a single person heard her loudly proclaim she wanted the school to go boom, so she wasn't fired."

"Lol."

"Loved by all is an understatement."

"Another teacher 9th grade year wasn't fired for backing my friend into a corner and looming over her with his hand on the wall above her head."

"F*ck you, Mr Hanks."- GreenOnionCrusader

Far too many students feel unsafe at school for a variety of reasons.

Their teachers should never, EVER, be one of them.

And one bad teacher has the ability to ruin it for all the extraordinary teachers out there.

A baby chimpanzee looks in shock with their hand over their mouth
Photo by Nagara Oyodo

Just because someone is an adult or a parent doesn't mean crazy things can't fall out of their mouths every so often.

Sometimes parents say the darndest things.

That's why we should always have a pen or a recording device at the ready.

I suggest the phone.

Just wear fitted tees with pockets and hit record.

You have know idea how much having receipts will pay off mentally later.

Redditor TheGasMove wanted to hear about what things parents have said to their kids that left kids SHOOKETH, so they asked:

"What has a parent said to you that made you go WTF?"

The amount of things my mother has said to me that has left me gobsmacked is endless.

I should've kept a journal.

Comedy gold.

The Proof

Jennifer Lawrence Reaction GIFGiphy

"After I told my mother that I didn't open up to her or my dad because I didn't trust them with my emotions, she started screaming that she hated me. Like, girl, this is exactly why I don't tell you things 😂."

LandPiranha63

Lessons Learned

"My mom told me that women pooped babies out of their butt. I believed this until I was 12 or 13. Boy, I got laughed at when I used this as my answer when asked in Sex Ed."

Eastern-Operation275

"I (27 F) have divorced parents and my mom always taught me the proper anatomy for things and that it's nothing shameful. On the other end, one day when I was at my dad's, a stray cat gave birth on his porch, and my stepsisters (same age) told my half-sister that it was coming out of the cat's butt, and I was like dude what? I questioned them, and they gave me scornful looks like I just said something offensive. LOL."

SpaceTimeBurrito

SURPRISE!!!

"A few months ago I had gone to do a surprise visit to my grandparents on my dad’s side. While I was driving up their property I saw them walking in their groceries and witnessed seeing my dad for the first time. I had never met my dad in my life but knew my grandparents."

"I walked up and greeted my grandmother and she ushered me over to talk to my father. As I went to greet him this dude threw his hood on and jumped in his truck and locked the doors and said no words to me. Never in my life have I witnessed a grown man run away like that."

Dabtoker3000

Facts...

"My father once told me that between my brother and I, I was his favorite. This caught me off guard because I thought parents weren’t supposed to have favorites."

fun_Dip_fan

"My dad once told me I’m not his favorite. So I told him he’s not my favorite either. Proceeded to get angry."

Honest_Math_7760

"It's problematic to share with your kids that you have a favorite."

LackEfficient7867

Bald Choices

Regret No GIF by Outside TVGiphy

"I shaved my head at 21 and kept that hairstyle for the last 28 years. My dad walked into my room when I was 26 and asked me for a comb! He looked at me, thought about it for a second, and laughed. RIP dad. I miss you."

Content-Damage8406

It's my hair. I'll do what I want to.

That's the kid's motto.

Adults not so much.

At least that was my experience.

Why Bother?

Ytho GIFGiphy

"When I called my mother to find out a good time of year to visit her she said, 'What for?'"

Space_T0ilet

Sure Papa Joe!

"Wasn’t my parents but my Grandpa."

“'Josh can you take me to see Marge?' Marge was his long-time girlfriend who had Alzheimer’s. My GP was in his 70s at the time and we took away his car because he was a dangerous man behind the wheel, to say the least. 'Sure Papa Joe!' That or PJoe was his nickname."

"Drive him to the place Marge was cared for at. Stop at the front and ask 'How long until I come back?' He replied 'Give me an hour. That should be long enough for us to have sex.' I start crying laughing and he leaves with a giant smirk. I could never look at him again without thinking or saying 'Almost 80 and still getting after it, WTF!"

ackbosh

The Joker

"Oof. I hadn’t talked to my dad in 15 years. I decided to reach out (for certain reasons and not to restart a relationship). He asked if he could ask me about my life. I let him. I told him, among other things, I was in a wonderful relationship with a terrific gal."

“'Is this a real relationship or like the girlfriends I had when I was with your mother.'”

"I was equally glad I disowned him 15 years ago, disappointed a man and a father would speak like that to his estranged son, and angry that he was the father I was born to. He is just one big joke to me."

Silence-brothers

Chop Chop

Steve Harvey Reaction GIFGiphy

"I would often visit the kitchen to watch how my mother cooks. One day when my father saw me coming out of the kitchen, he said 'You keep visiting the kitchen, your penis and testicles are gonna fall off. That’s how girls are made.” Context: I was 7 when he said that to me and we are a Korean family."

DeepSleepr

Learning to cook, is a great survival skill.

More dads need to get onboard with that.