The last month I’ve been hyper focusing/obsessing about falling asleep and thus it’s caused anxiety and keeps me up every night. I’m not sure how to do ERP around this and I want to get normal sleep again but it’s like my brain won’t shut off whenever I go to bed. Anyone have any tips?
I’m stuck in the same situation it gets better with time trust me at first it feels impossible to let that thought go but slowly you’ll be able to that..idk much about ERP though
Meditation before sleep helps. Also, when those kinds of thoughts cross your mind, like "what if I can't sleep again," you can tell yourself, "Okay, maybe I'll break the record for insomnia and not sleep at all," and then focus on your breathing. Don't drink caffeine or tea in the afternoon. Try to avoid taking any short naps during the day.
I use paradoxical intent, and sleep restriction. I learned the sleep restriction from having shiftwork sleep disorder. You set a time that you’re going to get up and you get up at that time no matter what. It’s more important that you get up at the same time every day, than it is that you go to bed at the same time. It sucks for about a week, and then your body figures it out, and you start getting tired and falling asleep easily.
@mav6 I got a rescue dog and kitten. What I didn’t realize was they were going to wake me up at the same time every day wanting to eat and play. A blessing in disguise. I was forced into a sleep schedule and after about a week I started getting to sleep faster and not waking up so much during the night. I used to sleep as late as I could trying to catch up on sleep and after a few days I would have trouble getting to sleep. Often I would never sleep. So lesson learned. You don’t need to adopt pets although they are so much fun but having a set sleep schedule really helps. The one thing I found is if I veered from a bedtime routine I would get anxious that I had messed up and wouldn’t be able to sleep. But after a while it became less of an issue because I had sleep reserves. I tend to catastrophize so I have to be careful to not set myself up for failure by ignoring my schedule. Hope that helps. I had a huge win this morning. In the past if I had an important activity scheduled I would get so anxious that I would not sleep at all the night before. Today is my granddaughters birthday party and I have been really looking forward to it. I went to sleep without a problem and the pets woke me up very early. I got up and fed them and went back to sleep. SUCCESS! So stick with erp and a schedule. I’m proof it works. I also understand that everyone has short nights. So don’t expect perfection. Remember none of us has the ability to know the future so when your brain says you won’t sleep label it OCD. Challenge the lies and get on with something that matters to you.
@Jeanne Oh yes. My dogs keep me on a schedule. Especially my lab. She hasn’t slept through the night since the day I got her and she always wants breakfast as soon as the birds start chirping outside. Sticking to a schedule has definitely improved my ability to fall asleep.
I write about not sleeping and what that feels like. I describe it in detail. How I will be awake when everyone else is sleeping. How I will struggle trying to sleep. What I will feel like the next day. Include frustration and feelings of failure. How overwhelmed I am night after night and how I dread going to bed. It feels like a battle. I can’t do the most basic function of sleep. Whatever your experience is. I record it and listen to it several times a day. Sometimes I read it out loud to see how it feels and what might change in my mind. Also take note at the end of each day what you did and what was positive in spite of being tired.
Obsessive thoughts about being unable to sleep are causing insomnia. Has anyone experienced this or have any advice?
Finally, after 2 months,after a long tak with my therapist this morning, I identified my true demon. I was hitting the scarecrow all along. Now I need help identifying the compulsions in ERP. I'm that dude you probably have seen around here complaining about sleep. I am constantly afraid I wont get to sleep at night. Now, I didnt really understand why I have that fear. I mean, I'd be totally fine If a doctor said ''ok, you should stay awake for 3 days for an experiment. The real problem for me is the uncertainty about my sleep, in which I never know if I'll be able to sleep or not. I thought it was just sleep anxiety. However, I used to work night shift a couple of years ago, and sometimes I would skip a day of sleep on purpose, to have more free time to enjoy ( I used to sleep from 6 am to 3 pm). I never felt scared at all. Even when I would try to sleep and failed, I would feel frustrated, but not terrified as I find myself nowadays when I have a sleepless night. So I started questioning: What happened lately that made me so concerned about that? Why do I have to be 100% sure I will get to sleep every single night, and why do I get terrified when I don't? So I remembered that last year I was reading about Familiar Fatal Insomnia. I learned that there is a very rare similar disease in which a person may develop Sporadic Fatal Insomnia, without the need to have a genetic link to FFI. It is extremely rare - only 24 cases registered so far. Now I dont know whether I really believe I have it, or may develop it. I'm more afraid of having this fear at night and fail to sleep, thus ''confirming'' my diagnosis. That's why I feel so terrified when I don't sleep. The thing is, never changed. The fear is the same as I had all these weeks: Failing to sleep the next night. Regardless of what condition is causing it.Anxiety, OCD, or fatal insomnia.. This fear of Fatal Insomnia had already popped up other times through these weeks, but never got my attention for too long. Somehow I realized this is a never ending cycle, in which I'll never know how my next night will be. I don't know how to practice ERP here. What should I expose myself to? How can I practice ERP with a fear that can kind of come true ? (Not necessarily developing such condition, but failing to sleep and thus believing so). I'm sorry for the long post, but I really dont know what to do:(
I’ve been sleeping great for the last few months, but just recently I have been having a hard time sleeping at night even if I try to take a nap. So obviously I’m more tired than normal, which makes my ocd worse. Now when I try to fall I sleep i have anxiety flare up and makes it even harder to fall asleep. I’m literally tired trying to fall asleep relaxed and comfortable and can’t. Does anyone else have this problem?
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