Why does insomnia abroad get worse? Practical tips for improving sleep disrupted by anxiety, time differences and uncertainty when you live far from home.
It is two in the morning and you are staring at the ceiling. There is an important meeting tomorrow, but your mind will not quieten down: What will my mother's test results show? Will my residence permit be renewed on time? Did I understand the letter from my child's school correctly? In Turkey, it is later or earlier in the day; messages are piling up in your family group chat. For many people living abroad, insomnia abroad is a quiet but wearing part of life far from home. Sleep problems often go hand in hand with anxiety; as one grows, so does the other. In this article, we look at why sleep can be disrupted when you live abroad, which signs to watch for and the practical steps you can begin this very evening to improve your sleep.
How Does Insomnia Appear in Life Abroad?
Insomnia can be described as having trouble falling asleep, waking often in the night, waking very early in the morning and being unable to go back to sleep, or not feeling rested even though you have slept enough. Everyone has the odd bad night. But if it continues for weeks and affects your daytime life, it has become a problem that needs attention.
Migration can affect sleep in many ways. Moving to a new country means a new home, different sounds, a different pattern of light, a different climate and a different daily rhythm. In northern countries, the sun setting very early in winter and staying light until late in summer can strain the body clock. In Gulf countries, life shifting into the evening hours because of the heat can have a similar effect.
In addition, the mental load that comes with migration also shows up in sleep. Speaking in a foreign language all day, staying constantly alert, learning new rules and living with uncertainty tire the brain. Yet this tiredness does not always bring deep sleep; on the contrary, at night the mind tries to process what it could not process during the day.
Symptoms of Insomnia and Anxiety
If you have had several of the following signs for a long time, your sleep and your anxiety may be feeding each other:
- When you get into bed, your mind "switches on", and your to-do list and worries line up all at once.
- Taking longer than half an hour to fall asleep.
- Waking in the night to check your phone and look at messages from Turkey.
- Waking towards dawn and being unable to get back to sleep.
- Physical anxiety symptoms such as a racing heart, tightness in the chest and muscle tension.
- Daytime fatigue, distractibility, forgetfulness and irritability.
- Bedtime becoming a source of anxiety because of the fear "I won't be able to sleep tonight either".
- Trying to make up the shortfall by sleeping late at weekends, then struggling again on Monday.
These signs on their own do not amount to a diagnosis. However, when they continue for a long time, they can significantly affect your mood, your work performance and your relationships.
Imagine someone living in Germany who learns that his father is to have an operation. The operation will take place early in the morning, Turkey time. That night he hardly sleeps; phone in hand, he jumps at every notification. The operation goes well, but in the following weeks his sleep still does not return to how it was. His mind has now "learned" to stay awake at night and wait on high alert. This example shows how a single stressful period can turn into a lasting sleep problem. The good news is that these learned habits can be changed again with regular and patient work.
Why Does Insomnia Abroad Get Worse? Causes and Cultural Context
The Time Difference and Living in Two Countries at Once
Many people living far from home actually live by two time zones. The family group in Turkey comes alive early in the morning or late at night. For someone living in Canada or the US, Turkey's morning may fall at midnight; for someone living in Australia, their family's evening falls after their own midnight. When there is important news or an illness, even putting the phone on silent feels difficult. This state of being "reachable at any moment" can keep the mind on alert at night too.
Worrying from a Distance
Ageing parents in Turkey, a sick relative, financial difficulties, disasters such as earthquakes or developments in the news... Being far away means not being able to be right there when something happens. This feeling of helplessness can grow even stronger at night, because when the bustle of the day ends, the mind turns to its worries.
Uncertainties That Come with Migration
Residence permits, contract renewals, diploma equivalence, finding housing, the children's adjustment to school... These matters outside your control feed the thought "What if it doesn't work out?" An anxious mind tries to find solutions to uncertainty, but at midnight most of these questions cannot be answered.
Loneliness and Silence
For someone who grew up in a crowded family in Turkey, a quiet flat can feel peaceful at first and become lonely over time. When there is no one to talk to in the evenings, thoughts get louder.
"Night Owl" Habits
In Turkey, eating, drinking tea and visiting people late in the evening are common. These habits can clash with a work or school schedule that starts early in the morning. Tea and coffee drunk late in the evening, heavy meals and screen use can also make sleep harder.
The Effect of Sleep Problems on Family and Daily Life
A sleepless night shortens your patience the next day. When a sleep problem goes on for a long time, a person can become more irritable, more pessimistic and less resilient. Small matters between partners can grow, and tolerance in the relationship with children can fall.
At work, attention and concentration can drop. When insomnia is combined with the mental load of already working in a foreign language, the fear of making mistakes and the thought "I'm inadequate" can increase. This feeds anxiety and deepens the insomnia.
Children are affected by irregular sleep too. Parents going to bed late, long video calls with family in Turkey in the evening or tension at home can disturb children's sleep patterns. For school-age children, regular sleep is very important for learning and emotional regulation.
Ramadan, religious holidays or periods when guests from Turkey are staying can also change sleep patterns temporarily. These changes are natural, and they often come with joyful moments. What matters is to deliberately return to regular sleep times afterwards. Even a small plan as a family, such as "On the Monday after the guests leave, we go back to our usual routine", makes things easier.
Sleep is not a luxury; it is the source of the strength you need while building a new life far from home.
Practical Steps for Improving Your Sleep Abroad
Set a Fixed Wake-Up Time
One of the most powerful ways of changing a sleep pattern is to get up at the same time every day, weekends included. Even after a night when you could not sleep, getting up at the same time helps your body gradually re-establish its rhythm.
Use the Bed Only for Sleep
Using your phone in bed, checking work emails or lying awake for long periods can teach the brain that the bed is "a place to be awake". If you cannot fall asleep within about twenty minutes, get up, do something calm in dim light and come back when you feel sleepy.
Set Boundaries for Contact with Turkey
Plan calls with your family at times that suit you. Put your phone on "do not disturb" after a certain hour at night; for emergencies, you can use settings that allow only a few close people to call you. Telling your family, "After this hour at night I can't check messages; call if it's urgent" reassures both you and them.
Set Aside Worry Time
After dinner, a few hours before bed, set aside fifteen minutes of "worry time". During this time, write your worries down on paper, and next to each one note a small step you can take tomorrow. When these thoughts come at night, you can tell yourself, "I've written it down, I'll deal with it tomorrow."
Adjust the Light and Your Surroundings
In winter, try to get out into daylight in the morning as much as possible; even a short walk can make a difference. In countries that stay light until late in summer, thick curtains or an eye mask can help. Take care to keep the bedroom cool, dark and quiet.
Review Your Evening Habits
From the late afternoon on, reduce your tea and coffee. Avoid heavy meals right before bed. Putting screens away an hour before bed and building a calming routine (a warm shower, light stretching, reading a book) gives your body a signal to sleep.
Relax Your Body
Muscle relaxation exercises and slow breathing techniques can calm a body tensed by anxiety. Starting from your toes and tensing each muscle group for a few seconds and then releasing it helps you notice and reduce the tension in your body.
Move and Connect During the Day
Moving your body during the day can help your sleep to be deeper at night. Walking to work, taking a short stroll in your lunch break or exercising a few days a week are good places to start. Chatting with someone during the day, having coffee with a friend or joining a community event also leaves the mind less alone at night. A day that is full and connected sets the ground for a calmer night.
You can find more general suggestions about sleep patterns in our article on how to overcome insomnia.
When Should You Seek Professional Support?
It is recommended that you consult a professional in the following situations:
- Sleep problems have continued for several nights a week and for longer than a few weeks.
- Daytime fatigue is affecting your work, your relationships or your safety when driving.
- Insomnia is accompanied by intense anxiety, panic attacks or prolonged unhappiness.
- You increasingly turn to alcohol or over-the-counter products in order to sleep.
- There are symptoms such as snoring, breathing pauses during sleep or restless legs.
Some sleep problems can have medical causes. For this reason, it is important to talk to your family doctor in the country where you live. Where necessary, an assessment by a psychiatrist or sleep specialist may be suggested. Decisions about medication should be made only by a doctor.
If insomnia is accompanied by thoughts of hopelessness or of harming yourself, please do not wait; call the emergency number of the country where you are: 112 in EU countries, 911 in the US and Canada, 999 or 112 in the UK, and 000 in Australia. Online therapy is not an emergency response service; in cases of serious risk, local emergency services and local psychiatric services are essential.
How Does Online Therapy in Your Mother Tongue Work?
Anxiety is often thought most intensely in the mother tongue. The sentences going round in your mind at midnight are most likely in Turkish: "What if something happens to my mother?", "What am I doing here?" Talking about these thoughts in the same language, and with someone who knows the experience of life abroad, can help you notice and change them more easily. For general information aimed at people living abroad, see our page for Turks living abroad.
In sleep and anxiety problems, work based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) usually includes the following elements:
- Sleep diary: For a week or two, bedtimes and waking times, awakenings and daytime energy are recorded. This record clarifies the pattern of the problem.
- Sleep schedule and stimulus control: The link between the bed and wakefulness is weakened, and a regular sleep-wake rhythm is established.
- Working with anxious thoughts: Catastrophic thoughts such as "If I can't sleep, everything will be ruined tomorrow", and worries about uncertainty, are reviewed together.
- Relaxation skills: Breathing and muscle relaxation exercises are learned in sessions and practised at home.
- Burdens specific to life abroad: Ways of coping with caring responsibilities from a distance, homesickness and uncertainty are discussed.
For online sessions, a quiet and private setting, a secure internet connection and headphones are recommended. With the time difference in mind, it is important to set a time that will not disrupt your sleep pattern; late-night sessions may not be very suitable in this respect. Payments can be made online; pricing in Turkish lira (TL) and payment by international card are possible. You will need to check the insurance terms in your country of residence regarding coverage. For detailed information about the process, see the online therapy page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will insomnia abroad pass as I get used to life here?
Sleep problems in the first period after moving can ease as you get used to the new routine. However, if anxiety and irregular habits have taken hold, the problem may not pass on its own. In that case, a regular sleep plan and, if needed, professional support are helpful.
Can the time difference with Turkey cause sleep problems?
It is not the time difference itself but living by two time zones that can make sleep harder. Setting healthy boundaries for contact with family and planning calls for suitable times can reduce this effect.
Should I take sleeping pills?
Only a doctor can decide about medication. It is recommended that you consult your family doctor in the country where you live or a psychiatrist. In therapy, sleep patterns can be worked on using non-drug methods.
Is online therapy possible in countries with a time difference too?
Yes, the time difference is taken into account in planning. A time that suits you during the day is set together, so sessions can continue without disrupting your sleep pattern.
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Eda Erkan Alapala
Klinik Psikolog. İstanbul Kent Üniversitesi Klinik Psikoloji Tezli Yüksek Lisans mezunu; bilişsel davranışçı terapi, çocuk merkezli oyun terapisi ve çocuk-ergen psikoterapisi alanlarında eğitimlerini tamamlamıştır.
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