I am having a really hard time tonight. :/ I keep ruminating... does anyone have any tips on how to stop thinking when you want to sleep? Or any videos or shows or just things to do before bed to get your mind off stuff?

pokemon games, Nintendo ds emulator. It's the best mind balance because it needs your focus but there's also no consequence if you need a moment not to give it focus. You run around following a story line with lots of free time to mind numbingly running through grass very simply training up your pokemon, then running back in to the little town to heal them, and then back to the grass, and then on to a pokemon gym to battle the "leaders" the same exactly way you were training when you are ready, they just have higher leveled pokemon lol and then you progress to the next cute little city and repeat! All while finding new cute pokemon as you go!

Night time is tough for me also. I’m sorry you’re having a difficult night. Have you heard of CBT-I? My psychiatrist recommended it and it’s not easy to implement but it really works. My progress using it is a roller coaster but it’s getting easier and easier and I’ve noticed a major change in my quality of sleep, sleep hygiene, and night time ruminations. Plus after 12 years, I’m finally getting away from my dependence on screen time to distract myself and numb my distress at night and it’s so empowering! I highly recommend asking your treatment provider(s) about it and if you’re not currently in therapy, there are some online resources I found helpful. I didn’t save the links after downloading and printing the info on them BUT if I can find them again I’ll post them here.

There’s this app called Sporcle where it’s a bunch of quizzes, literally a quiz about anything. Whenever I’m having a hard time sleeping and I can’t get rid of certain thoughts I do the ones where you try to list the top baby names of certain years. It helps me to stop thinking and get to sleep.

https://youtube.com/channel/UCX7a7Ydw1-lZq-cwHkeND2Q

I’m so sorry I can’t find the website I used but here’s a link to another website I found to be helpful — https://adaa.org/sites/default/files/Runko_177.pdf Again, this is definitely something to discuss with your treatment provider(s) but there are relaxation techniques and other strategies mentioned on this PDF that I use that have been mind blowingly effective.