But they were working? They're not long-term solutions, but they allow him to focus and function long enough to get to a safe place. They worked well enough that his SO didn't notice how bad things were. He tried talking to her, got some sleep in an actual bed, and then had a nightmare bad enough to wake her and activate the suit. So he did try something else, but it failed and he went back to what he knew would allow him to function. Then, at the end, I heard his narration as a way of trying to convince himself that he was fine. 'Fake it 'till you make it' and all that.