Why You're Exhausted but Still Can't Sleep

When the problem isn't sleep — it's a nervous system that won't stand down

Cant sleep, woman lying in bed at night in soft light

If you're reading this at 2 or 3am, you're probably exhausted.

Bone-tired. Foggy. Desperate for rest.

And yet, sleep won't come. Or it comes lightly, restlessly, and leaves you feeling just as depleted in the morning.

You've likely tried the usual suggestions. Magnesium. Melatonin. Sleep hygiene. Meditation apps. Going to bed earlier.

Some of them may have helped briefly. Most didn't last.

Because for many women, especially those living under chronic pressure, sleep isn't the problem.

Why Being Tired Isn't Enough to Sleep

Here's something they don't tell you about sleep.

It doesn't happen because you're exhausted. It happens because your nervous system believes it's safe enough to let go.

When your nervous system is in survival mode, your body prioritises alertness over rest, even when you desperately want to sleep.

This is why so many women say things like: I'm exhausted but wired. My body won't switch off. I lie there feeling tense even when I'm calm mentally.

This isn't insomnia caused by bad habits or poor routines. It's not about your sleep environment or your bedtime routine.

It's a nervous system that hasn't stood down.

What's Really Keeping You Awake at Night

For high-functioning women, particularly those juggling work, family, potentially neurodivergent children, emotional labour, and hormonal shifts, the nervous system often learns one core rule.

Stay alert. Don't drop the ball.

Over time, that rule becomes automatic. You don't think about it anymore, your body just does it.

The jaw stays tight. The shoulders stay lifted. The mind scans even when there's nothing to solve.

At night, when the world finally goes quiet, your nervous system doesn't relax.

It panics.

Because stillness feels unsafe when your system has been trained to stay ready. Relaxation feels like negligence. Like you might miss something critical. Like the moment you let your guard down, everything will fall apart.

So instead of resting, your nervous system activates. Your heart rate picks up. Your mind starts searching for threats. Your body feels wired.

And you lie there, exhausted and awake, unable to understand why your body won't just let you sleep.

Why Common Sleep Solutions Don't Work Long-Term

Many sleep aids focus on sedation rather than safety.

Melatonin can make you drowsy, but drowsy isn't the same as safe. Your brain still perceives threat, so it wakes you to stay vigilant.

Meditation can increase anxiety when the system is already overwhelmed. You're asking an overprotective system to relax, and it interprets that as letting your guard down.

Medication can knock you out while your nervous system stays on high alert. That's why sleep can feel shallow. That's why people wake up tired. That's why solutions stop working over time.

You can't force rest onto a nervous system that doesn't trust it.

The Role of the Nervous System in Sleep

Deep, restorative sleep requires your parasympathetic nervous system to be online. This is the state associated with rest, digestion, repair, and emotional processing.

When your sympathetic (fight-or-flight) system dominates, sleep becomes fragile or elusive.

For many women, the nervous system isn't temporarily activated. It's conditioned.

Conditioned by years of chronic stress, responsibility, emotional load, and unresolved trauma that's often subtle, cumulative, and unseen.

This is why sleep issues often emerge or worsen during perimenopause, while parenting neurodivergent children, during career pressure, or during burnout recovery.

The body isn't malfunctioning. It's protecting.

And that protection becomes the thing that keeps you awake.

Where Vagus Nerve Support Can Help

Gentle nervous system support can help signal safety to your body in the moment.

Practices that may support sleep include slow rhythmic walking during the day, longer exhales than inhales before bed, gentle rocking or swaying, soft pressure at the sternum or base of the skull, and humming or low vocal tones.

These approaches help your nervous system downshift.

And for some women, this creates enough relief to fall asleep.

But for many, the calm doesn't hold. You feel better for a night or two, then you're back to lying awake at 3am wondering why nothing works.

Why Sleep Problems Keep Coming Back

If your nervous system learned to stay alert over years, it will return to that pattern unless the original survival responses are resolved.

This is the difference between regulation and resolution.

Regulation helps you feel better temporarily. You do the practice, you feel calmer, you sleep better for a few nights. Then something happens (work stress picks up, kids get sick, hormones shift), and you're back to square one.

Resolution changes what your nervous system learned to expect. It changes the underlying rule. It means your body no longer needs to stay on guard because it finally understands the danger has passed.

Without resolution, rest becomes something you have to keep working at.

That's exhausting in itself.

How Trauma-Informed Resolution Changes Sleep

Resolution-based approaches like TRTP (The Richards Trauma Process) work at the level where the problem was created.

Not by reliving experiences. Not by analysing endlessly. And not by forcing calm.

But by allowing your nervous system to complete unresolved survival responses, so it no longer needs to stay on guard.

When that happens, sleep often changes quietly but profoundly.

Women notice deeper sleep without effort, fewer night wakings, a softer body at bedtime, and waking up feeling genuinely rested.

Not because they tried harder. Not because they finally found the right supplement or the right app.

Because their nervous system finally understood that it was safe to rest.

If You've Tried Everything and You're Still Awake

If sleep continues to elude you despite doing all the "right" things, it doesn't mean you're broken.

It doesn't mean you're doing something wrong.

It doesn't mean you're not trying hard enough.

It means your nervous system is still protecting you. And protection, once it's no longer needed, can be gently released.

Sleep isn't something you need to master.

It's something your body allows, when it no longer feels like it has to stay on guard.

• Why am I exhausted but still can’t sleep at night?

  Many people assume sleep happens automatically when you’re tired, but sleep actually requires a nervous system that feels safe enough to let go. When the nervous system is stuck in a state of alert — often due to chronic stress, responsibility, hormonal shifts, or unresolved trauma — the body prioritises vigilance over rest. This can leave you feeling “tired but wired,” lying awake even when you’re exhausted. In these cases, the issue isn’t sleep hygiene or willpower, but a nervous system that hasn’t stood down.

• Can stress really cause insomnia even if my life looks fine?

  Yes. Chronic stress doesn’t have to come from obvious danger or crisis. Long-term pressure, emotional labour, parenting demands, high responsibility roles, and cumulative life stress can all condition the nervous system to stay on guard. Even when life appears stable on the outside, the body may still be operating as if it needs to remain alert. This is especially common in high-functioning women who have spent years coping and pushing through.

• Why do sleep aids and supplements stop working over time?

  Many sleep aids focus on sedation rather than nervous system safety. While they may help initially, they don’t resolve the underlying survival response keeping the body alert. Over time, the nervous system adapts, tolerance builds, or sleep becomes lighter and less restorative. This is why people often report that melatonin, medication, or supplements help briefly and then lose effectiveness. The nervous system hasn’t learned that it’s safe to rest — it’s simply been overridden temporarily.

• What does the vagus nerve have to do with sleep?

  The vagus nerve plays a key role in activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which supports rest, digestion, and recovery. When vagal tone is healthy, the body can move out of fight-or-flight and into rest more easily. Gentle vagus nerve practices can help calm the nervous system in the moment, but they don’t resolve long-standing survival patterns on their own. They are supportive tools, not complete solutions.

• Why do vagus nerve exercises help for a while but not long-term?

  Vagus nerve exercises help regulate the nervous system temporarily by sending signals of safety. However, if the nervous system has learned over years that staying alert is necessary, it will return to that pattern once the exercise stops. This doesn’t mean the exercises are wrong — it means regulation alone isn’t enough when unresolved survival responses are still active. Long-term change requires resolution, not just repeated calming techniques.

• What’s the difference between nervous system regulation and resolution?

  Regulation helps the nervous system calm down in the moment. Resolution addresses why the nervous system became stuck in a survival state in the first place. Many people regulate daily through breathwork, meditation, or movement but still struggle with sleep and exhaustion because the original survival responses haven’t been completed. Resolution-based approaches allow the nervous system to finally stand down, reducing the need for constant regulation.

• Can trauma affect sleep even if I don’t think I have trauma?

  Yes. Trauma isn’t defined only by big, obvious events. It can also include cumulative stress, emotional overwhelm, chronic responsibility, or experiences where the nervous system didn’t get to complete its natural response. Many people with sleep issues don’t identify as “traumatised,” yet their nervous system is still operating in protection mode. The body responds to perceived threat, not logic or labels.

• How does TRTP help with sleep problems?

  TRTP (The Richards Trauma Process) works at the level of the nervous system rather than focusing on symptom management. It allows unresolved survival responses to complete without reliving or re-triggering past experiences. When the nervous system no longer perceives ongoing threat, it doesn’t need to stay alert at night. Many people notice deeper, more consistent sleep as their system learns that rest is safe again.

• Is insomnia common during perimenopause and burnout?

  Yes. Hormonal changes during perimenopause can increase nervous system sensitivity, while burnout reduces the body’s capacity to regulate stress. Together, these can amplify sleep problems, especially for women who are already carrying a high mental and emotional load. In many cases, addressing the nervous system directly is more effective than focusing on sleep alone.

• What should I do if I’ve tried everything and nothing helps my sleep?

  If you’ve tried supplements, routines, meditation, and lifestyle changes without lasting improvement, it may be time to look beyond sleep strategies. Persistent sleep issues are often a sign that the nervous system is still protecting you. Working with an approach that supports nervous system resolution — not just regulation — can create change where other methods haven’t.