Do you need an eye mask for sleep?

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I'm curious if this is an aspie trait. I think it's pretty well known some of us like white noise to sleep too, but what about darkness? I absolutely do. I wear a sleep mask every night. I started wearing one when I had very strange sleep hours but now dependent on it. Blocking out everything around me seems to quiet my mind to help me sleep I know sleep masks are mainly a girl thing but.. I go crazy without one. How about you?

When I don't wear a mask, I almost always end up with a pillow over my eyes at sunrise.

I also take Melatonin and Valerian root, and listen to music designed to induce delta waves -- I don't just need soothing or white-noise -- I need music with undertow

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Aspie score: 142/200 NT score: 64/200
AQ Score: 42
BAP: 109 aloof, 94 rigid and 85 pragmatic

I had one years ago, but only used it a few times. The black dye reacted with my body chemistry, and stained my face around my eyes. I was working at the time, and didn't want to go out with black rings around my eyes. I am thinking of getting another one though, but this time I would get an undyed one if possible.

Due to health problems I have an irregular sleep/wake cycle and may be awake or asleep at any time of the day/night. I prefer to sleep with a dim light on at night, so that I don't stumble around in the dark if I wake up to use the bath room. However, it is easier for me to sleep if the room is dark, so an eye mask would darken what my eyes take in, even through closed lids, while allowing me to leave a dim light on.

I also use white noise, a fan or radio static, to drown out neighborhood noise. I would prefer no noise, but it is easier to sleep if I can mask most of the local noise with white sound. Unfortunately, the new neighbor on one side has a motor cycle. White sound doesn't drown that out.

I can't sleep with anything over my face, but I do need total darkness in order to fall asleep. I have two windows in my room, one facing east and the other south. It gets a lot of light in the morning. Until I'm able to invest in a pair of blackout shades, I've blocked out most of the light with heavy towels clipped to the blinds. I sleep with many blankets and pillows and two fans going.

As long as my CD of rainfall is playing I'm okay.

I have insomnia occasionally and subsequently try to get a brief doze during the daytime if possible - I find this impossible without both and eye mask and ear defenders to block out the light and any background noises.

A sleep mask is optional, but can be helpful. I prefer a room with just barely enough light to navigate with peripheral vision. White noise is almost mandatory however.

i've had to use a sleepmask since i was in the army and my bunk was right below a fluorescent light fixture. i chose that bunk because it was right in front of a high window with an a/c unit in it, and in texas summers a/c is mandatory for any comfort at night. my barracksmates gave me the nickname "batman" 'cause of my black sleeping mask.

I use one sometimes when I wake up abnormally early and want to get back to sleep.

I use an eye mask and earplugs, otherwise I won't sleep.

It would probably disturb my sleep - trying to wear anything to sleep in tends to do that.

Back when I had roommates in college, there would be times when I'd consider getting one so my roommate could leave lights on to do what she needed to do without bothering me if she needed to stay up late to do stuff. In the absence of one, I make do with sheilding my eyes with an arm slung over my face.

Earplugs are 100% required.
I put on the mask after I awake to pee when the sun has come up.
I can do without the mask in the evening, because I invested a lot of money in light-proofing the window.
When even a minimal amount of lights comes from the other rooms though I *must* use a mask or suffer greatly!

It took me a while to get used to it, but it really does help to tie a rag round my eyes. I don't use an eye mask; those are too uncomfortable. I use an old T-shirt folded over and sewed up so that I can slip it on like a blindfold. I can be woken up by very slight stimulus, at least when I'm not in stage 3-4 sleep, so I try to block out as much of it as I can with white noise from a fan, a weighted blanket, and the blindfold. I also have foil covering up my bedroom window to keep the light out (and as a bonus, to avoid accidentally giving the neighborhood a show because I absent-mindedly forgot to put the blinds down before changing clothes).

I can sleep without those things if I have to, but I always notice I'm not as well-rested. I guess it has to do with frequent brief awakenings that tend to crop up if I don't block out the rest of the world well enough.

I need as much darkness as I can get, but I don't think I could sleep with something on my face. I have to be able to position my head and body in a handful of just so positions, and I switched between them throughout the night. I would get it all kinds of twisted and strangly at some point, if I could get to sleep to begin with with something against my face like that.

Yes. And if I don't have an eye mask around I wrap a blanket around my head. I also have two sets of curtains on my windows. I still suffer from insomnia anyway.