- Date posted
- 3y
Sleeping and OCD
Does anyone else get heavy intrusive thoughts while trying to get some sleep? Its really hard to relax.
Does anyone else get heavy intrusive thoughts while trying to get some sleep? Its really hard to relax.
Thank you so much for this comment. OCD can often make us feel like "the only person" that has this struggle. It is not uncommon for us to notice our thoughts more as we are less distracted by the busyness of our day.
Yes trying to fall asleep or wakening up with these thoughts can be so frustrating; especially if you've been waiting all day to get some sleep! Something that helps me and other is when that thought comes in, welcome the thought - "oh hello nice for you to join me for a slumber party- feel the anxiety okay I feel some tension in my neck /head etc okay OCD lets go to sleep for a little while" acknowledge the thought is there-not trying to push it away or avoid it-this may not work initially but keep doing it. You go this ! Talk with your therapist for some other ideas!
Absolutely you’re not alone there ! I’ve heard of some great apps with meditations to help you fall asleep - ‘calm’ in particular
yeah! For sure, for example, I used to always wear headphones everywhere I went and listen to audiobooks when I was really little because the second that I stopped being distracted, the intrusives would start.
It's pretty common! Have been facing sleep issues intermittently for 2 years
Every time I go to bed late and I’m falling asleep, I suddenly get an intrusive thought of a child’s face and my groinal area always responds to it. It’s such an uncomfortable experience. I am way too tired to try and freak out so I end up falling asleep. The next morning I’m always trying to figure out whether I had the groinal response first or after the thought. I start giving OCD power but it feels like If I let it go, then I’m in denial or whatever. I don’t want to ever do anything sexual with a child. I don’t even feel comfortable talking platonically with people who are 17, much less a child. My therapist says that I have a deep rooted fear that I’m this horrible person and that OCD loves to feed off of it. When you get a groinal response, it makes the thought that much more real. I never want these things to happen. I want to only be into adults. It’s so discomforting and stressful. Especially since I’m hyper checking how anxious I am, and if I find I didn’t really have much anxiety, then I’m like “well if I didn’t have anxiety, what does this mean?” And more questions occur til I end up in a rabbit hole
I struggle so bad with intrusive thoughts. They can be so bad that I'll cry because I KNOW that's not how I feel or want to do. (Too embarrassed to say what they're about) I'll constantly try to figure out why I have them, and constantly figure out what they mean, causing me to constantly circle around and around. I had to get on anxeity meds, which helped a little but the thoughts still happen. How do you help yourself with this? How do you know that you're just not some physcopath? 😅
Does anyone else's OCD get worse when you haven't slept well? I haven't been sleeping well since this weekend and my OCD and anxiety is just making me feel super down. Does anyone else have this problem?
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