Matthias Schweighöfer is looking for therapists: "I often sleep very poorly"

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Matthias Schweighöfer in February: He suspects the reasons for his sleep problems in his childhood

It is apparently difficult for Matthias Schweighöfer to really relax and sleep deeply at night - in order to change that, the actor now takes the support of a professional. "I'm just a bit off to tackle this with a therapist," said the 39-year-old in an interview for Barbara Schöneberger's podcast "With a woman's waffles". The episode should appear on Saturday.

"I often sleep very badly," said Schweighöfer to Schöneberger. "From 5 p.m. I get so nervous that my stress level gets so high that I'm in this stress level at night. That's why I always sleep."

This has been the case since childhood - this is where the actor suspects the reason for his sleep problems. Schweighöfer grew up in the GDR, his mother Gitta Schweighöfer was a single parent and also an actress. “In the east that meant: either you were a mother or you were working,” said Schweighöfer. "She tried to connect it."

During their evening performances, he had to fall asleep alone as a child. That has shaped his rhythm of life to this day.

Millions of people sleep badly at night

Schweighöfer is not alone with his problem. According to a current analysis by Barmer Krankenkasse, around 1.76 million people across Germany were diagnosed with sleep problems in 2018.

Young people in particular are more and more affected: In 2018, doctors in the 15 to 19 year olds diagnosed according to Barmer, a total of 25,116 sleep disorders. In 2005 this was the case for just under 9,170 young people. Among young adults between 20 and 24 years of age, the number of diagnoses rose from around 17,000 to just under 45,600.

Actor Schweighöfer has already spoken openly about challenging moments in the past. In mid-August he said that he used to be very jealous. Jealousy is "a real hardcore emotion that can lead to anger, loss of confidence and madness," he said.

In the meantime, however, it has become clear to him that you cannot control a person, but only let go. "I had to learn to trust in love, and I only managed to do that with my current partner, Ruby."

Schweighöfer announced at the beginning of 2019 that he had not been in a relationship with his long-term partner Ani Schromm for more than a year. The two have two children. In February 2019, he made his relationship with fellow actress Ruby O. Fee public.

kko / dpa