[LordLeetas]

So this is my first time joining a site like this and technically my second post if you count my intro post....anyways I have PTSD from a rape that happened when I was 15 (I am now 27) my psychiatrist told me I never dealt with it properly....I have nightmares so frequently that I am at the point where I usually function on 3-4 hours of sleep until my body wears down and I will sleep nearly all day from the sheer exhaustion that I don't have nightmares or even dreams for that matter. I have asked for help for my insomnia, which I am just scared to sleep for fear of my nightmares, but he tells me that I just need to work thru things and my sleep will get better, I do not agree with this, I need to sleep now a I am a mother of 2 and I can't be the mother I need to be for my children who are 8 and 5 years old. I have an appointment with a new doc on the 7th of this month, I just really don't know what to do. I want to be the mother I know I can be and have been to my children in the past, I am neglecting them emotionally and I need help.

[lowinmood]

mindfulness can really help to calm your mind down, and it can help to relax you, when I go on mindfulness retreats, I get a deeper more natural sleep, and can get off to sleep more easier.

Another thing that helped me was going to the country side where the street lamps would all switch off at 11pm, and no traffic at night, so it was completely dark, that really helped me - I could go to sleep and have a really good deep and peaceful sleep.

Now I'm back in the city, I too only get 4-5 hrs sleep per night as I'm an insomniac too, due to being sexually abused when I was younger.