Depression/anxiety and Sleep

[jadedreams]

I wasn't sure where to put this thread but had a couple of questions. Been dealing with depression & anxiety/intrusive thoughts since last spring, close to a year. Felt better for a little bit in the fall, then felt a little worse and have felt stuck since then.

It feels like I haven't gotten a good night sleep in months. I fall asleep ok but wake up a few times through the night and early before my alarm goes off. I feel physically and mentally exhausted every morning usually. One thing I have noticed is that I spend most of the night dreaming, usually weird dreams but sometimes nightmares.

I have done some reading and what I found is they say too much dreaming doesn't give you enough of the deep restorative sleep you need. It's like your brain is still busy working on things or ruminating while you try to rest. Have any of you been through this, dreaming all night and feeling exhausted. Any tips for helping with it? I haven't found a lot of things to help in my research and thought I would ask you guys. Thanks as always.

[KeeKee]

Sorry I'm not a big dreamer but I do wake multiple times through the night, occasionally for hours and I feel tired every single day. Even mornings so I know how difficult it is. Hope things start getting better

[PanchoGoz]

I dream a lot and I often remember parts of it or kind of just remember the feeling for much of the day. Sometimes I wake up remembering scenes from the dreams, then forget, then when I lay my head down the next night the images come back.
Your mind has a lot of working out to do with all these thoughts and emotions anxious sufferers have. Not sure there's anything you can do to stop it really except go to bed in the best frame of mind possible. Or keep distracted in the evening and go to bed when you're really tired.

[MyNameIsTerry]

How do you create deeper longer sleep? Exercise. Studies have shown it does this in people who work out. It's good for us in other ways anyway. It regulates hormones and will help you feel more naturally tired.

Broken sleep leaves me shattered. You've probably read about the blocks we sleep in. Have you also read how waking during those blocks at a certain stage means you wake feeling rough? And also how waking too late does the same? I've read that sunlight is a good way to break that if you wake during these cycles as it causes the brain to react to it.

I've read other articles about how blue light stimulates certain brain chemicals which is why they say to stop using computers or watching TV close to bedtime. You can get apps, screen filters and even goggles for this!

[jadedreams]

Thanks guys.. yeah I figured it was the overactive mind of anxiety causing it. I will work on doing more things to calm my mind in the evenings, it's weird though usually my anxiety is lowest later in the day.

Ah, exercise - I actually had started this a couple months ago, then I got bronchitis which lasted 3-4 weeks and that derailed me as I got out of breath very easily. Time to pick it back up I think.

Thanks again everyone for your replies and support. This has been the best site I've found for anxiety/dep support.

[jadedreams]

Hey guys, have another question related to sleep. I'm still dreaming a lot and feeling very tired. Usually my dreams are just normal or weird, but last night I had a couple that really disturbed me. In one part I dreamed I harmed myself, but it was like I was watching myself and I was at the hospital watching them trying to help me. With my intrusive thoughts this really bugged me. In another part of the dream I watched someone run out in front of a car, she was ok but then I read a story in the paper about her harming herself. It was all very surreal and my sleep was very broken last night. It just has me all freaked out. I was even feeling better last night and thinking of plans for the future, so I am not sure why I was dreaming about this stuff.

Any thoughts for me? Have any of you dreamed of this sort of stuff? Thanks...

[Sunshine2]

When I do dream I dream of weird things. I always dream (or have a nightmare) of people I know dying but that's only if I get to fall asleep. I always have trouble falling asleep. Been to docs and been given meds to help me whilst I'm getting my anxiety under control so I don't go back into my depression.

[jadedreams]

Slept a little more last night, talked with with my therapist yesterday about the dream. She said she was surprised I hadn't had more dreams like that with my intrusive thoughts. I slept a little more last night, but still woke up a lot after 3 am - feeling exhausted each morning is not helping with the anxiety or depression. Any tips for helping with sleep? I think it would help me a lot if I could just get a good nights sleep!

I know a lot of you are in the same boat and I'm sorry we are going through this..