Jennifer Aniston Makes Rare Bedroom Admission About Her Sleep Troubles

Jennifer Aniston made a rare personal admission in a new interview about her sleeping habits. The former Friends star said she struggled with insomnia, sleepwalking, and sleep anxiety for years. She even worried about going to bed, fearing she would have another night of “counting cracks in the walls,” she told PEOPLE last week.

“I think it started somewhere in my 30s or even earlier, but you just don’t start to notice the effects of a lack of sleep when we’re younger because we’re so invincible,” Aniston, 53, told the magazine. “It began as something that I would just accept, and then all of a sudden, you realize the effects of your lack of sleep and how it affects your day and your work and your mind function and your physique.”

Whenever Aniston tried to sleep, she made a big mistake by watching the clock. That only made her think more about how time passed, and she was losing sleep. The more she worried about losing sleep, the harder it became to sleep.

Aniston admitted she had “been known” to sleepwalk. “I’ve been woken up by house alarms going off that I’ve set off. And I don’t think I do that anymore – that was when I was super sleep deprived,” Aniston said. She called this a “silver lining” to the situation. Her body told her, “Now don’t go out and set the alarm off again, okay?”

Aniston held off on getting medical help for years, but she eventually decided she had to do something about her insomnia. She was “really struggling with” it, even though she put it last on her list of concerns. The Morning Show star realized that it was impossible because you can’t successfully exercise or eat well if your body clock is “so completely thrown off” because of a lack of sleep.

Aniston “absolutely recommends” people speak with their doctor about sleep issues, she told PEOPLE. This is why she joined Seize the Night and Day, a new campaign to raise awareness of insomnia and other sleep issues. Aniston appears in a commercial for the campaign.

Aside from medical help, Aniston said her nightly rituals had helped greatly. She winds down before bed, does yoga or stretches, and keeps her phone out of her bedroom. Aniston also tries to keep a consistent bedtime, which is never easy for an actor who keeps odd hours when filming. Aniston also likes sleeping in bed with her dogs. She even envies how her dog Chesterfield is a “sweet, deep sleeper.”

Aniston finished work on Murder Mystery 2 with Adam Sandler earlier this month. The last scenes of the new movie were filmed in Paris. The first Murder Mystery was released on Netflix in 2019 and starred Sandler as New York Police Officer Nick Spitz, with Aniston as his wife, Audrey. The two find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation aboard a billionaire’s yacht. In the sequel, the two will work on another murder case. It is expected to be released this year.