Hello Everyone

[HardkorexGlamour_87]

I'm Lynsay and I'm from Scotland :emot-wave: :D

I came across this forum after looking on ways to help my fear of going to sleep.

For the past 5 years I have been suffering from anxiety on/off. I recently lost my Dad who died with Lung Cancer Three months after he was diagnosed. I was there when he passed away and it was the first body I had seen and I kinda freaked out a little.

Ever since that day 4 months ago I have been scared of the night time and dread going to bed/sleep.

So looking to find help and meet some new friends in the process :)

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya HardkorexGlamour_87 and welcome to NMP :welcome:

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way :yesyes:

[Deanosbeano]

Welcome
Its a great place with great people hope you enjoy it

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi and welcome to NMP, Lynsay :welcome:

I'm sorry to hear about your dad, that must have been a very difficult experience to go through that anyone would dread. :hugs: It is bound to have an effect on any of us and with anxiety being in play already, it's likely to reawaken some of that or intensify it.

It could be that this will change in time as you find ways to move forward from this traumatic experience but I'm sure you will find help, advice & support on here.

I wonder if your fear of the dark is more about it being the signal that sleep time is coming? And maybe a fear of death given the short period your dad had? If you go into a dark area in the day time, does it cause the same fears with you knowing it's not near bedtime?

I hope you find what you are looking for on here.

[HardkorexGlamour_87]

Hi Terry,

Thank you for your gracious welcome.

Yes I think it may be a signal that sleep time is coming, I am fine during the day but as soon as it is dark outside I start to get that familiar feeling of dread and doom.

I start to get pains in the chest area that I am convinced is the start of a heart attack and no matter how much I tell myself that it's not and that I'm not going to die it won't go away in fact it gets even worse. I also suffer from sleep paralysis and the anxiety sets this off as well which again only makes it worse.

Sometimes during the day if i've had a bad panic attack the night before I feel extremely weird and as if I am still in a dream and not here in real life.

Before the first ever panic attack I was a happy go lucky lass with not a care in the world ... now I am an emotional wreck, but I am now ready to find help and I think chatting to people who are also in the same situation may help me on my journey :)

[sial72]

Hi and welcome
So sorry about your Dad, I would say what you are going through is normal under the circumstances. I'm sure you will get lots of support here and you'll get better x

[MyNameIsTerry]

I know what you mean, Lynsay, I had no anxiety issues before my day came. I had been overdoing it at work for probably 12 months and I didn't realise the warning signs until I got in one day and it just happened to me at my desk.

Anxiety is known to increase phenomena experienced during Hypnagogia (falling asleep and the first 2 hours of sleep) and Hypnopompia (waking) states. These are normal ways in which our brain works as documented in science but unless you read about them, they can be scary and even then they can be scary along with anxiety. There is no treatment needed for these states though as they are normal and experienced by a lot of people regardless of anxiety disorders.

There are others on here who have said that panic attacks can bring on DP/DR for them. It sounds like this happens to you so it will be worth reading what others have said and talking to people about it. There is a board on here for that but also a current thread on the Panic Attacks board about what people hate the most/worst symptom, might be worth talking on as some of those members have mentioned things like this.

So, if in the day time you had to go in somewere dark e.g. a bat house at a zoo or maybe a photographers lab, you would be ok? So, subconsciously it's not about it actually being dark but the impending event that follows. I think you will find others on here who understand that. I'm more a morning person with anxiety so waking up is when the dread would start, which is also common, and it's all about having to fight through symptoms to get to the other side even if there are no stresses on those days. But I can remember having panic in the night when I went through this in my original breakdown and I did dread sleep a bit. (that and because of insomnia).

You may find the real issue lies deeper and these are beliefs built on top of it e.g. if you associated sleep with death. It's not surprising given what you have been through but you can recover from this.

Recognising & accepting anxiety is the first real step, then getting the help and moving forward will come.