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May 13, 2019 at 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miss P

I'm not the healthiest person, but, I am trying to make improvements and build on this. I have had sleeping problems since I was a teenager. In my 20's, I went back n forth to my doc, stating, I have sleeping problems. I've been diagnosed with anxiety, OCD, and (although not diagnosed) I believe I've other problems. I only wish that more of my friends/family shared same view. I don't believe my story is uncommon, I'm sad to say. I've heard similar accounts, it's awful.

What I'd love advice on, is, do any of you believe you are hard wired, only to getting in a certain amount of sleep each night? I'm not exaggerating, when I say, I've never had more than 4/6 hours of sleep, in any one night, in 20 years plus. I have (do) meditate, exercise, following eating plans. What works, what helps you? Sorry, this is a bit of a rant, but people think I'm lazy, and act like this is something within my control. All I know is, I'm out of ideas.....anybody relate?

Sorry you are struggling Miss P. Sleep is so important and the lack of it can really exacerbate mood problems. I've never been a great sleeper. I think there is likely a genetic component to it though I am not trained or educated in sleep disorders. A good sleep night for me is 7 hours though typical would be 6. Sometimes I can only get 4-5 and I can function like that but it does not feel great. At one point when I was going through a major trauma, I could only get 2-3 hrs a night and that was brutal.

I know from friends who are older than me that sleep cycles can naturally alter with age....friends have told me they would wake up earlier and earlier in the morning whether they wanted to or not....even folks who used to get 8 hours could not get more than 5/6 (or less) no matter how hard they tried. I don't know your current age, perhaps that is one factor for your sleep troubles?

With regard to people judging you as "lazy" etc that is simply a reflection of their character. Judging others for things that have no impact on us is strongly correlated with personal insecurity. Take a random example. Let's say a very overweight person is walking down the street. You hear a stranger make a snide comment about their size. Why? What's the point? Why does the stranger care about somebody's shape or size? All you can know is that stranger being unpleasant is likely insecure and unhappy. Similarly, people giving you grief about your sleep problem are not so happy themselves. And in general, I think it's much easier to see what other people "should" do rather than focus on what one should do for one's self. Does that make sense?

I take a somewhat fatalistic approach to my sleep issues at this point. I used to worry about it which naturally made it worse. I admit that sleep is still quite a mystery to me in many ways. Lately I have nightmares each night which is tiresome. I approach my general health from a holistic perspective. It sounds like you have already tried that so I don't have much to add for options. Just want to offer my support