I Can't Take This Anymore

[Rennles]

I'm contemplating checking myself into the psychiatric unit of the hospital today. I have been unable to sleep due to severe anxiety about sleeping and hypnic jerks that go on all night. The anxiety is all consuming. I went to a psychiatrist who prescribed me something that didn't work and I now have this total sense of impending doom and can't relax at all. I feel detached from reality, I get mad over everything. I don't know what to do. I want myself back but it feels impossible. I don't see how this can possibly ever go away. Has anyone else ever been this low before and hopeless feeling and come out the other side? I'm scared.

[Buster70]

Hi , I’ve definitely been that bad 24/7 anxiety for months , even in my sleep , I completely lost touch with reality but it did get better , it comes and goes with me usually brought on by high stress at home but it does eventually burn out and settle down .
Id go into more detail about what has helped for me but I’m going through a rough patch myself , all I can say is hang in there it will pass .
Take care .

[ankietyjoe]

I've been worse than that and went to Legoland with the kids yesterday. Life is pretty much normal for me for the most part.

You have a long journey ahead of you, but everybody can recover from anxiety.

[Rennles]

I just feel like I'm definitely going to die, I can't physically take any more sleep deprivation but the stress keeps compounding. I finally start to see a light and my mom gets diagnosed with lung cancer. I know anxiety is possible to overcome but the physical aspects are crippling. I just don't see a light anymore. I'm lost in a void. :weep: I've had some rough bouts of anxiety before but this is otherworldly..

[Iwant2bhealthy]

Rennless, do you have a possibility to do some vigorous excercise? Running, rowing, biking, or just doing jumping jacks at home can help you out. I recently suffered from an anxiety relapse when my relative was diagnosed with cancer. I ended up vigorously raking leafs in the garden and going for a intermittent bursts of run and fast walking. Allowing my body to follow the "fight or flight" response helped my mind to deal with the situation.

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[LF87]

Sorry to hear you're having a bad time Rennles. Yes, I have been there too. Couldn't sleep, got more and more worried about not sleeping which just goes around in circles. Is the worry of not going to sleep that is causing your sleep problem? I also had intense feelings of depersonalisation too, just like I wasnt me and felt like I had gone crazy. I havent had it badly for for many years, but totally sympathise. It will get better though I promise! Sorry to hear about your mum too :(. My advice would be dont worry about not sleeping firstly, makes it all worse and nothing bad will happen if you lose sleep. I used to get myself into a state over it but my psychologist at the time told me to stop freaking over it and it will pass. She also said only brain surgeons need to worry if they're sleep deprived 😅. The doom feeling is really common too in anxiety which I do still get. Try do things to make you feel better, I used to cook a lot to take my mind off it and helped me realise it's just a symptom in itself and it will bugger off eventually x

[ankietyjoe]

You're not going to die. Anxiety can't do that. It will pass, honestly!

[kalny]

I'm contemplating checking myself into the psychiatric unit of the hospital today. I have been unable to sleep due to severe anxiety about sleeping and hypnic jerks that go on all night. The anxiety is all consuming. I went to a psychiatrist who prescribed me something that didn't work and I now have this total sense of impending doom and can't relax at all. I feel detached from reality, I get mad over everything. I don't know what to do. I want myself back but it feels impossible. I don't see how this can possibly ever go away. Has anyone else ever been this low before and hopeless feeling and come out the other side? I'm scared.

Hi Rennles,

Let me tell you about my hypnic jerks. I get them all the time! I drive my wife nuts! I also experience hypnagogia - seeing and hearing things in the night in a half-asleep state.

I want to reassure you. I've been having these things for years and years and they are completely harmless. You tense up during the day due to anxiety and stress and at night, your body wants to relax. That tension gets released sometimes like a spring you've unwittingly coiled up during the day. Boingggg! You jerk awake just as you were falling asleep. It's annoying!

Here's something you can try right away which works wonders. When you get into bed lie on your back and gently tense all of your muscles. Start at your feet. Tense them and then slowly release them. Do this for your whole body, working from your feet all the way up to your head. That will release a lot of the tension and you'll be in a much calmer state for sleep.

If you experience another jerk, shrug it off. Or laugh about it if you can. They are 100% harmless - that is unless you do what I accidentally do sometimes and boot your partner in the backside! In that situation the worst outcome is usually a tut or a scowl.

I really hope this helps you. Let me know how you get on.

[ankietyjoe]

If you experience another jerk, shrug it off. Or laugh about it if you can. They are 100% harmless


Heed this wisdom

[Phoenixess]

I’ve experienced hypnic jerks since I was a child one memory I had I was lying on someone’s floor when I was about six and I woke will a jolt I thought I was falling! I’m now 31 and experience them on and off and I’m still here! Totally unpleasant at the moment they trigger panic attacks for me in the night both of which terrify me and make me question reality until I come round at which I’m like woah that again! They are fine don’t fear them, just try to say when it happens “ah I know what that is” and ignore it.
Some say they are another form of survival from when we lived in trees to save us from falling out! If all else fails we could all try sleeping in a tree then we will need our hypnic jerks and be thankful we have them.



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