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[thewarningafter]

@beyonce

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@ASolomons; audio; night 217

[devoutish]

Tell me about sleeping pills. Side effects, are they habit-forming-- everything important.

[Alfie definitely sounds like he needs them - he sounds completely worn-out.]

audio | night 217 | talk of fears might creep in, here

[thewarningafter]

[Funny thing, Stephen doesn't sound much better.]

Just about everything I could prescribe for insomnia carries some risk of dependency, yeah. There's also a chance of next day drowsiness, and a small chance of sleepwalking or abnormal thinking. Is the problem with falling asleep or staying asleep?

audio

[devoutish]

Both.

[Next-day drowsiness doesn't sound like something he wants to deal with, though.

He shoots Stephen a picture of a bottle of over-the-counter sleeping pills.]

Risk of dependency for these?

audio

[thewarningafter]

Oh -- you meant. Yeah. Okay.

[If Stephen sounds a little absent-minded, it's probably to do with his own sleep deprivation, not to mention the isolation of the last several days.]

Kind of the opposite, actually. That's an antihistamine; if you use it too often you're going to build up a tolerance pretty fast.

audio

[devoutish]

And then it won't work anymore at all. Yeah?

perma-audio

[thewarningafter]

Yep. Pretty much. I'd say you're better off looking into just developing better sleep habits instead, but something tells me all that crap about setting a regular bedtime isn't going to do it for you.

perma-audio

[devoutish]

Mm.

[Definitely not.]

I'll give it time, I suppose.

[thewarningafter]

[Time doesn't really heal all wounds. Stephen is silent a moment, mulling over his next suggestion. The last time he'd brought it up -- he can only hope it helped Clint a little, before he'd died.]

...Have you ever tried meditation?

[devoutish]

Meditation. No.

[He sounds a little baffled by the suggestion.]

Something like hypnosis?

[thewarningafter]

Something like. I've found it can help with the worst of the sleep deprivation.

[devoutish]

Can't say I want you hypnotizing me, mate. How would you do it?

[thewarningafter]

Yeah, I might learn all your embarrassing secrets.

[It's a joke, but....]

Couple ways. There's guided meditation, which is probably about what you're thinking of, me telling you things to visualize. Or I could just tell you how to do focused meditation on your own.

[devoutish]

And how does that work?

[thewarningafter]

You focus.

[He lets that hang for just a second to amuse himself, but then he'll clarify.]

Sit as comfortably as you can, shut your eyes, and focus on your breathing. Don't think about it, just experience it. Be fully present in the moment and let your mind go quiet.

[devoutish]

Mm.

Wouldn't work for me. Being present in the moment is the last thing I want.

[thewarningafter]

I did say you're not supposed to think about it. You're not supposed to be thinking about anything.

You could always focus on something other than your breathing. Like an image. Or a memory.

[devoutish]

Happy, peaceful--?

[thewarningafter]

Peaceful. Peaceful is good.

[devoutish]

It all comes out to sad in the end, mate.

[thewarningafter]

Okay.

[He says it like he's going to come up with another solution, but his voice catches on the word. He's useless. He's not a healer anymore, not a sorcerer, just some asshole handing out advice that doesn't do anyone any good while people die around him.]

Just -- just try. Please.