The ABC of Insomnia

The other day I happened to listen to a phone-in programme on 5 Live about insomnia, that debilitating condition affecting many people. All the callers made excellent contributions, and it was clear that there is no easy cure or treatment, and that not everything works for everyone.
I do not suffer from it, although I can be kept awake by pain in my arthritic knees or by the need to visit the toilet at night.

I remembered the ABC game which my late wife and I used to play if one or other of us could not get to sleep. It usually worked for us, although I cannot explain how.

You think of a class of things (e.g. countries of the world, the larger the better) and try to name one for each letter of the alphabet. So, Australia, Brazil, Canada etc. Sometimes there may not be one for some letter. In that case for example “W” is difficult, since the time when Western Samoa change its name to “Samoa”. Often by the time we got to “L” one of us had dropped off to sleep.
Rivers work well, again aiming for larger ones. So, Amazon, Brahmaputra, Congo etc. Towns and Cities in the UK might start with Aberdeen, Belfast, Cardiff.
Pop groups: ABBA, (The) Beatles, Coldplay etc. Do you remember the “Z” pop group? Clue: Argent.
Liz was better than me at plants and birds, but we both did well with Shakespeare characters, beginning, for example, with Antonio (Merchant of Venice), Banquo (Macbeth), Cordelia (King Lear).

Actors, writers and kitchen items all work.
If you cannot find an answer, don’t regard that as a failure, as long as the process puts you to sleep.

This game can also be played in a long and boring car journey, but please ensure that the driver does not drop off to sleep.

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