Re: Sleep Concerns
Originally Posted by
StarsDie
Does anyone have 'success' stories about sleeping problems?
I had chronic insomnia for several years..
I think sleep deprivation is a major culprit on a lot of the symptoms that I get.
Absolutely.
And I think I just have a
general fear of sleeping in a way.
This is your problem.
From sleep paralysis to 'jolts' right before falling asleep, to sometimes waking up trembling.
All common with people who suffer with anxiety. (I've had all three)
Last week I went 3 straight days with a total of about 5 hours of sleep. Until I finally caved and took an anti-anxiety med and was able to start normalizing some sleep patterns again. But only partially, as I'm only really operating on 5 or 6 hours a night (low for me).
6 hours sleep is decent. I was averaging 2/3 hours a night for a very long time until I got my head around it and that meant being mindful of my thoughts - which had been along the lines of, 'Oh my God, another night. I won't sleep. I will wake up having a panic attack. I can't stand this' etc etc etc.
I should add that a huge part of my insomnia was because I have nocturnal panic attacks so I dreaded going to sleep. I educated myself about the stress response and I told myself that it didn't matter if I had a panic attack or not. I'd had thousands of the buggers and they're unpleasant but not harmful. I realised that it was a case of my body being so hyper-sensitive that non-scary things like the sound of a car door being closed, my husband snoring, a drop in temperature or my own dreams were triggering the fight or flight response while I was still asleep. I learned what to do to calm myself down and I reminded myself of the many beautiful sunrises I'd seen as a result of being up at silly-o-clock in the morning. Now, I still get the odd panic attack that wakes me up but most of the time I deal with it in situ or I get up and move about if that doesn't work, but I average eight hours of sleep now and all I really did was to change my attitude to the problem - which was to remove the fear.
I wonder if I'll have to be institutionalized over it if I can't conquer it.
It's thoughts like this which are upping the gears with your anxiety which in turn is feeding directly into your sleep problem. It's a catastrophising thought and it's irrational. You are sleeping. Your body will force this no matter how hard you try to stay awake but it's not restful sleep and your daily anxious thoughts will carry through into your sleep state..
Turn bedtime into something to look forward to. Take a warm aromatherapy bath, listen to some gentle music. Do some light reading. Practice breathing exercises. Watch some comedy instead of the news. Don't look at computer screens or phones before bed. Try not to eat after 6pm. Don't have caffeine after 2pm (earlier if you're really sensitive or avoid altogether) Don't dread going to sleep. If you think that you are not going to sleep, that you are going to have a bad night, and you're scared to sleep etc your brain will respond to this 'danger' as if it is real. It's does this to protect you. I choose not to be unrealistic and say to myself, 'You're going to have a great night's sleep Nora!' because that generally just sets me up for disappointment as my anxiety norm is set on high. Instead, I go with this, 'If I wake up it doesn't matter. If I have a panic attack, it doesn't matter. I know what to do. I will handle it'. This recognises the problem without adding fear and eventually the brain gets that we're not scared and stops trying to wake me up all the time..
I've also had some success wearing a sleep mask. Took some getting used to as I don't like things on my face but my brain does like the darkness and it means I'm not reacting to changing light levels in the room..
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A thought is harmless unless we believe it.