Quote:
Originally Posted by happycheeks
I suffer with insomina sometimes. It causes my anxiety to become worse. When I try to sleep, I think to myself. "I am going to sleep tonight, I need to keep thinking of nice things and I'll drift off and fall asleep". But when I know I'm not asleep, there's this big sensation of anxiety that I feel. It's not a nice feeling. If I know I haven't slept for two days or for a night, I think to myself that I'll never sleep. I sometimes have had trouble sleeping and I tried to sleep and the next morning I realise I have fallen asleep. I feel so happy when I have fallen asleep. I do think about things which I worry about before I sleep, but I tell myself. "Stop thinking about it, you need to sleep" and then I try to stop thinking about what is worrying and I think of being on a rollercoaster or something random, By thinking of something random or letting your brain drift, it helps me drift off to sleep.
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When I say I have not slept, I probably have but it is more dozing than actual full-fledged sleep; I am wide awake for several hours, then half awake for the rest of the night (I am aware of the passage of time which in my mind means I am not really asleep), then I sleep hard for about a half hour to an hour, and then the alarm goes off. I'm exhausted, but have to get up. Sometimes that will go on for days. The doctor gave me seven days' worth of Lunesta which did put me to sleep and I was able to wake up okay the next morning, but for me it was a completely dreamless sleep so it did not feel natural. It's better than no sleep, though and it did seem to jump start my natural ability to fall asleep. I will try the brain drift technique and see how that helps--in fact that might actually give me the best night's sleep because it will mean I have turned off the worrying. Thanks for the suggestion!