Sleep is my biggest problem

I´ve been having problems with my mental health a few years before I developed problems with sleep, I think.

But they only really set me back when I started to get intense problems with sleep aswell.

I have been in therapy for more than 2 years now. Even though a lot of things have changed to the better, I still feel very inhibited by my sleep problems.

I feel like they´re my biggest problem right now.

A lot of the times I get enough sleep and feel well rested, however, it can change quickly when there is noise (even small noise),
or when I have an early appointment the next day. Just setting an alarm (even a late alarm) can inhibit me from falling asleep.

it´s the pressure of "Needing" to sleep then, that inhibits my sleep.

It´s a big problem for me because I´d like to do many things and feel ready to do so (study, work more, maybe travel on my own etc.) but without sleep, I start feeling *really* bad only after one night with not enough sleep and a lot less stable.

Is it normal to have sleep problems with mental issues? Does everyone with mental problems have problems sleeping? What can I do to resolve it? Any ideas? Therapy doesn´t seem to help enough. Though I have been thinking about CBT for it instead. Medication?
I have tried GABA and Valerina root. GABA seemed to help somewhat sometimes, Valerian not at all.

The best sleep I have experienced so far was on a vacation on a mountain in in a very very peaceful and calm environment. I fell asleep easily and quickly and even noise in the morning from the maids did not inhibit me from sleep....

I´d be thankfull for any ideas!!!!

I forgot to add, I had phases of waking up and remembering only vaguely having woken up several times at night gasping for air. Could that be a condition too?

sleep is a huge issue for me, too.

i'm with you when you say it's probably the worst issue out of everything.

it's frustrating. it really is.

do you have a skeduled sleep time. (i mean, go to bed at a certain time, wake up a certain time), good room temperature?

have you had any sleeping meds before and did they help at all?

what about lighting- how is that?
hope that's at least some help.

Hi shattered sanity,

thank you for answering me

To your questions, no I don´t have a scheduled sleep time. For a long time I felt like that would put too much pressure on sleep and make the issue even worse. Now I have been thinking about it.
The problem for me is that I live with my mother and my bedroom is next to the living room without a real wall but only a door inbetween. She often falls asleep in front of the TV to unregulare times, and I can only sleep when she´s gone from the livingroom, so that makes it difficult for me.

I have been thinking about meds more and more at least in the beginning to maybe help me get rid of the stress, just so I know in an emergency I can always sleep... what do you think? My therapist seems to be against this though.

And for light, that´s very good. I have darkening curtains now and I can tell you that it helps A LOT! So if you don´t have it, get it, it really helps!!

Probably your real life situation is causing your sleep problems. Time to go back to the mountains to where it is peaceful.

Hi Thunder Bow and thank you for replying.

Yes, you are probably right. It was a very interesting experience for me to find in this extreme peaceful environment I actually *was* able to sleep totally normal, and at ease and well. It was a vacation, so there was nothing for me to do the next day or worry about. And I was far away from my family and the situation was just very relaxed, very quiet, very natural.

However, I don´t want to spend my life on a mountain....

I want to do many things. I want to learn things and try new things. And new experiences always come with anxiety, I suppose, more or less.

I suppose that is okay, but for "Normal" people these sort of things don´t cause extreme sleep disruption, as in my case. So this is really my dilemma, I want to do more things, but I still need my sleep of course... :/

i should have thought of that myself.

great tip

Have you considered mindfulness meditation? There are now many universities offering courses in MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction). It's a way of bringing you into the present and decreasing the "energy" around anxious thoughts. It can give you a sense of greater control over your mental state even when things are unpredictable.

Also you might consider noise cover for trying to sleep when other people are making noise, like getting a loud fan or air cleaner and running that to cover unwanted noises.

By the way, I often feel like I'm in a completely different mental state when I'm sleeping somewhere other than home -- usually a better state. It's frustrating because you just wish you could achieve that at home! But meditation might help.

sleep apnea? i can never get enough sleep it seems i wake up have coffee up for 2 hours and have to go back to bed this happens in cycles. if your trying to catch your breath it may be sleep apnea.