[damaged006]

Hi there, hope I'm posting this is the right place. I'm still quite new here so apologies if I got it wrong. I have problems sleeping at the best of times but this is happening alot recently, I'll explain.
I'm not aware I'm nodding off to sleep until I feel this feeling of real inpending doom, if I allow myself to nod off I won't wake up. I will die if I give in to it. I wake abruptly, get myself up out of bed and check everybody is ok in the house then try and settle back down. It's happening more and more recently and I have no clue why it is or what this feeling of impending doom is. I'm not fearful of dying ,well not consciuosly anyway. I'm not afraid to sleep because of these feelings. I do go to bed and settle down without fear it will happen again. Just no idea what this feeling is and why it's happening more regularly and if anyone has any idea I would be grateful for their input.
Thanks.
Nat.

[ryuken]

Are you afraid of something like say - some event , lack of finance, career, partner and other fear related to that? We usually panic after the sleep because our mind alerts us about some of such things while we are in sub- consciously thinking closely in dream.

I can't give advice on psychological basis or say dream therapy basis. But try reading something good like say quotes and some humor books. What it will do is, your mind will come out of constant alert phase and will relax for a while.

[medkev13]

Yes, this is where you'd put that kind of question

This sounds like sleep induced anxiety attacks. You might want to talk to your Dr or your Thrpst about it. I wouldn't even call it a subconscious dream issue, as it's not part of the dream itself, but the result of sleeping.

[damaged006]

Thank you for your replies. I don't have fears about alot of things, wouldn't say I'm a fearful person so I'm not sure it's a fear related to something I know about. If that makes any sense. I understand that in dreams the subconcious deals with what's happening in our daily lives and tries to make sense of them. I have problems with my mind shutting down and I do believe that causes my sleep problems. I sleep around 3 hours a night if I'm lucky. I have been advised by my psychiatrist not to read, not to use the laptop, not to put the tv on or listen to music as it causes the mind to be on constant alert, he calls it sleep hygene. I've done it, lay there for hours and hours and still do not sleep, not sure if that causes me to be tense and anxious before I do finally nod off.
I can't say I have ever heard of sleep induced anxiety attacks, I had no idea that was even possible. Wow. I will do a little research as I'm curious. I will chat to my doc as soon as I see him next and hope it can be dealt with. Being without the correct amount of sleep tips my mood. I went 6 weeks with only 2 to 3 sleep hours per night and eventually I had a breakdown. I've gone a week this time and my mood is dropping very low, the docs won't prescribe anything to relax me or help me sleep, says I have to learn to do it myself, mmmmm, not sure after 18 yrs of this problem it's that simple.

[medkev13]

Anxiety doesn't have to have a fear as an obvious source. The logic is that when you sleep you lower your emotional walls and are more vulnerable to things that might be lingering in your subconscious. So where in the waking world you might have defense mechanisms that keep you from suffering anxiety, when you sleep these mechanisms shut off and the anxiety rises.

If you have a difficult time sleeping, there are a few non-medication tips I know of

First, keep physically active during the day - walk, jog, beat up bums, whatever :P Second, get an evening routine down. You may not have a schedule that allows you to go to sleep the same time every night, but if you do the same things before going to bed, you'll train your mind to start the "ready for sleep" process with the routine as a triggering device.
Third, your dr gave you the tips, because reading/tv/etc engages the brain and keeps it from going into Theta sleep more easily.
If you still have problems, you can try melatonin. It's natural (it's what your body produces to tell your mind to get into sleep mode). Take it half an hour before bedtime. Making it part of your evening routine can encourage the body to get into rhythm for going to bed. Be aware that your body can start to compensate for it. If you find that the melatonin stops working, you'll want to stagger the dosage. Take it on different days and change how much you take.