Sleep OCD

Ohhhh yes I understand those! I have always had issues with having to sleep the same way every night (no lights, fan on, sound machine, etc.) and it's so difficult for me to sleep anywhere else. As for the thought spiral, I am so sorry! That's one of the worst traps in OCD, in my opinion. The more you worry about not being able to sleep or not getting enough time directly prevents you from what you need! Then you know that you'll be exhausted tomorrow and the anxiety is already building and none of it has actually even happened yet! I know I'm preaching to the choir, but you have my sympathies! Forced Distraction has been the only thing that really works for me sometimes. My dad (also OCD) was a big believer in taking deep breaths and counting each one. 98% of the time, he'd be asleep before the number 10. I try repetition. Telling myself the same story or just repeating a monologue to myself. I've actually had more luck lately with audiobooks. I put on something I know so I won't get too eager to keep listening lol, but honestly just having another voice to focus on helps me to keep the thoughts more contained. I put a sleep timer on and it has done wonders for my ability to fall asleep. Staying asleep is another battle lol, but focusing on a story has really been helping me try to contain my brain and thoughts into one area. It's also helped my dreams (I'm an extremely vivid dreamer) and the negative/anxious/depressed thought spirals were just continuing in my dreams and I felt like I could never get any rest at all from my brain. I know different things work for different people, but honestly an audiobook with a sleep timer has been a game changer for me the last couple of months. I sincerely apologize for the long winded rambling but I hope you find something that helps you or helps to jumpstart your routine! Wishing you lots of sleep with sweet dreams and that your pillow always stays cool!

I get this way but it’s hard to tell if it’s OCD or not because I genuinely know if I don’t get good sleep, my anxiety is much worse. Generally though I get really bad OCD about my schedule being consistent

Do you mean Sleep OCD like routines you have to do to be able to sleep? I guess I'm asking if yours is more like a mental checklist or more physical routines like having to be laying a certain way or have a certain pillow or blanket? I actually remembered just the other day that I had to do the mental checklist thing growing up and it would take about 2 hours every night before my brain was "allowed" to sleep or I felt like I had done everything in my power to protect everyone just so I could try to sleep. I'm curious how prevalent this is amongst OCD was well. It's so wild that so many different traits can be attributed to OCD and at the same time so shocking that it can rule more of your life than you ever realized

@FitmomwithOCD, thank you! Sending you all the good vibes and well wishes!