[eclairparty98]

Hello all -- I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the anxiety forum. This is mostly to do with my anxiety BUT it's destroying my sleeping pattern so I was wondering if anyone here could be of help. Of course, if anyone feels this is most suited under 'anxiety' I'm okay with someone moving this post

I'm staying up all night so that in the event of a home invasion, I'll be alert and ready to call the authorities and let everyone know rather than being totally helpless fast asleep. IMAGINE being sound asleep, experiencing a peaceful dream and then being woken up by a masked intruder equipped with a weapon. This is easily one of my biggest fears and has been for a really, really long time.

Of course, I can't deliberately stay awake all night all the time. My past therapists have discouraged sleeping medication and we've looked at statistics which provide me with the awful uncertainty of the "what ifs". You know?? This is because most home invasions/burglaries/crime happens during the night time SO this is when I feel more protective/alert/anxious.

Does anyone else get this type of anxiety?? How do you channel it?? What do you tell yourselves?? I hate flying and honestly, a plane crashing into the ocean feels equivalent to a ton of intruders invading your home whilst you peacefully sleep -- it can go two ways; they tie you up, steal everything and leave/plane crashes, everyone has life support vests and are rescued by a boat (how often does this happen??) OR!!! The plane crashes, everyone drowns/intruders break in, killing everyone inside and leaving with any valuables.

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by eclairparty98

Hello all -- I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the anxiety forum. This is mostly to do with my anxiety BUT it's destroying my sleeping pattern so I was wondering if anyone here could be of help. Of course, if anyone feels this is most suited under 'anxiety' I'm okay with someone moving this post

I'm staying up all night so that in the event of a home invasion, I'll be alert and ready to call the authorities and let everyone know rather than being totally helpless fast asleep. IMAGINE being sound asleep, experiencing a peaceful dream and then being woken up by a masked intruder equipped with a weapon. This is easily one of my biggest fears and has been for a really, really long time.

Of course, I can't deliberately stay awake all night all the time. My past therapists have discouraged sleeping medication and we've looked at statistics which provide me with the awful uncertainty of the "what ifs". You know?? This is because most home invasions/burglaries/crime happens during the night time SO this is when I feel more protective/alert/anxious.

Does anyone else get this type of anxiety?? How do you channel it?? What do you tell yourselves?? I hate flying and honestly, a plane crashing into the ocean feels equivalent to a ton of intruders invading your home whilst you peacefully sleep -- it can go two ways; they tie you up, steal everything and leave/plane crashes, everyone has life support vests and are rescued by a boat (how often does this happen??) OR!!! The plane crashes, everyone drowns/intruders break in, killing everyone inside and leaving with any valuables.

I get similarly when I'm manic/hypomanic, but usually when I'm about to crash hard

[eclairparty98]

Originally Posted by SorryShaped

I get similarly when I'm manic/hypomanic, but usually when I'm about to crash hard

Gosh. I hope it isn't anything frequent and crashing doesn't come often for you. Do you tell yourself anything for reassurance that you'll be alright to sleep during the night and NOT be victim to a home invasion??

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by eclairparty98

Gosh. I hope it isn't anything frequent and crashing doesn't come often for you. Do you tell yourself anything for reassurance that you'll be alright to sleep during the night and NOT be victim to a home invasion??

I take Se----el(not sure about mentioning specific meds here). In the dose I take, it mandates I sleep and has the chemical result of addiction. I don't crave it, but I don't feel better for 2 days, even though I've taken it the next night. When I'm in mania and paranoid, sometimes it isn't enough and I'll stay awake for days anyway, until my crash. Those are hard! Take everything joyous or even ok out of life and experience the worst horrors mentally and depressively. I haven't been in full mania for a while, but when I was being treated for monopolar depression and not bipolar, I didn't sleep more than 4 hours any night. It was cool being able to take 29 credit hours in one semester, but I remember the way I felt deteriorating. After my paranoid month, I finally hit bottom. I made 5 attempts in less that 3 days, pills, choking, chemicals... I'm not given antidepressants any more.

[Shazerac]

Is this fear something that happened suddenly? did something trigger it?

There things you can do to secure your home. Do you have a security system? If not can you get one? There ares simple inexpensive things you can do to secure your home. Hammering a nail in the track of a window prevents it from opening. Same thing for a broomstick in the track if a sliding glass door. Rubber door stops make it very difficult to get a door open. You could also tie a bell or strings with empty tin cans on door to make noise if a door opens.

[SorryShaped]

I've been robbed before while not at home and lived in a neighborhood with a LOT of crime and gunshots. Still, I just left the door unlocked nearly 24/7. I'd rather they didn't break my door and let the weather in. My ex, wife at the time, got a Chihuahua. They are the best alarm systems in the world, as long as you're defending against everything, including blowing leaves or a plastic bag in the wind or someone down the street....
Drug lords in Mexico use them in packs as alarms. They're also referred to as desert piranha. Look it up

[eclairparty98]

Originally Posted by Shazerac

Is this fear something that happened suddenly? did something trigger it?

There things you can do to secure your home. Do you have a security system? If not can you get one? There ares simple inexpensive things you can do to secure your home. Hammering a nail in the track of a window prevents it from opening. Same thing for a broomstick in the track if a sliding glass door. Rubber door stops make it very difficult to get a door open. You could also tie a bell or strings with empty tin cans on door to make noise if a door opens.

I've had it since I was about 14, like my agoraphobia -- I'd stay home from school and stay up all night because there was no school the next day (terrible logic!!) which meant I had to preoccupy myself. I started browsing the internet and came across true crime stories which fed my curiosity AND the anxiety. It was just crime story after crime story, unfortunately leading me into a panic state. I think this actually came before the agoraphobia.

Since leaving school last year, I haven't got any routine. I think the lack of routine is partially to blame. I don't need to wake up early at 6/7am for anything tomorrow so it just leaves me totally independent.

The security advice is great!! I'll definitely see what we can do about this. We had an alarm and a panic button in our old house which made me feel extremely safe during the day and at night. I'll see about getting one of these as bolts just won't do it. Thanks

[eclairparty98]

Originally Posted by SorryShaped

I've been robbed before while not at home and lived in a neighborhood with a LOT of crime and gunshots. Still, I just left the door unlocked nearly 24/7. I'd rather they didn't break my door and let the weather in. My ex, wife at the time, got a Chihuahua. They are the best alarm systems in the world, as long as you're defending against everything, including blowing leaves or a plastic bag in the wind or someone down the street....
Drug lords in Mexico use them in packs as alarms. They're also referred to as desert piranha. Look it up

Oh my gosh, I actually have a Chihuahua, haha!! He's hilarious and definitely makes quite the noise over the smallest thing, love him sooooooo much

Gosh, you're brave!! Gunshots?! Golly. The worst we get is the odd pack of youths walking past with their loud voices. Honestly, not even a Chi could protect us against gunmen -- they just have to waltz through the door and shoot I know what you mean though, generally they are great guard dogs. I want a 1,000 of them, haha

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by eclairparty98

I've had it since I was about 14, like my agoraphobia -- I'd stay home from school and stay up all night because there was no school the next day (terrible logic!!) which meant I had to preoccupy myself. I started browsing the internet and came across true crime stories which fed my curiosity AND the anxiety. It was just crime story after crime story, unfortunately leading me into a panic state. I think this actually came before the agoraphobia.

Since leaving school last year, I haven't got any routine. I think the lack of routine is partially to blame. I don't need to wake up early at 6/7am for anything tomorrow so it just leaves me totally independent.

The security advice is great!! I'll definitely see what we can do about this. We had an alarm and a panic button in our old house which made me feel extremely safe during the day and at night. I'll see about getting one of these as bolts just won't do it. Thanks

How about just sleeping anyway? Relax your mind and let it happen. Try to watch happy things on the internet, like Simon's Cat, before bed. (Apologies if the promotion is wrong to do but I have no pecuniary interest involved)

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by eclairparty98

Oh my gosh, I actually have a Chihuahua, haha!! He's hilarious and definitely makes quite the noise over the smallest thing, love him sooooooo much

Gosh, you're brave!! Gunshots?! Golly. The worst we get is the odd pack of youths walking past with their loud voices. Honestly, not even a Chi could protect us against gunmen -- they just have to waltz through the door and shoot I know what you mean though, generally they are great guard dogs. I want a 1,000 of them, haha

Brave? Hardly. I just chose to not let it bother me. I sat outside during day or night. I nearly went outside the night the FBI, DEA, sheriff's Dept and City police, all complete with helicopterS busted in the next building over. I realized it wasn't the best of ideas at that time. They were taking it a big part of the pill pipeline. There was a gunshot the next night, behind my home, that nearly killed someone after it refracted off a wall. Still I didn't live in fear of it. It either would happen or wouldn't. It didn't matter. I'd done nothing to get shot over and really hadn't anything worth stealing. My ex being a hoarder was kind of a deterrent too. Who wanted to wade through that mess for anything. It was living in jenga

[eclairparty98]

Originally Posted by SorryShaped

Brave? Hardly. I just chose to not let it bother me. I sat outside during day or night. I nearly went outside the night the FBI, DEA, sheriff's Dept and City police, all complete with helicopterS busted in the next building over. I realized it wasn't the best of ideas at that time. They were taking it a big part of the pill pipeline. There was a gunshot the next night, behind my home, that nearly killed someone after it refracted off a wall. Still I didn't live in fear of it. It either would happen or wouldn't. It didn't matter. I'd done nothing to get shot over and really hadn't anything worth stealing. My ex being a hoarder was kind of a deterrent too. Who wanted to wade through that mess for anything. It was living in jenga

Thank you, SorryShaped - I've never thought about it like this before, you make an excellent point. People don't generally break into homes with the intention of killing a random person.

BUT, then look at all the completely innocent people we've lost to serial killers and random attacks in general. I know what you mean, though. More often than not, someone won't put all that time and energy onto a totally random person. I don't live in a wealthy area, either. I'm sure a burglar would rather take elsewhere to commit home invasions. I still think I'll add a security system. Just in case.

Hilarious about the jenga - sorry you put up with that

[SorryShaped]

Originally Posted by eclairparty98

Thank you, SorryShaped - I've never thought about it like this before, you make an excellent point. People don't generally break into homes with the intention of killing a random person.

BUT, then look at all the completely innocent people we've lost to serial killers and random attacks in general. I know what you mean, though. More often than not, someone won't put all that time and energy onto a totally random person. I don't live in a wealthy area, either. I'm sure a burglar would rather take elsewhere to commit home invasions. I still think I'll add a security system. Just in case.

Hilarious about the jenga - sorry you put up with that

Her problem now, not mine anymore. Let that crap tumble