Problems Sleeping & Anxiety

I have trouble sleeping since I have PTSD, I have anxiety as I'm about to go to sleep and often times I have nightmares. When I wake up from a restful sleep, I wake up feeling frightened and on edge. My body ends up shaking and I feel as if I'm in danger. I've been having issues with sleeping or getting to sleep since I left my abuser which was back in November in 2017.

I'm really gentle on myself and keep telling myself that I'll get through it. Sometimes I almost dread night time coming because I know I'll end up panicking and freaking out again. For some reason 80's pop music seem to relax me cause it's uplifting and poppy sounding. It reminds me of my childhood and I feel safe. Sometimes I even put on the TV at night cause I have issues with sleep. Hope my body stops shaking soon. Tea is another thing that's helping. I just wish I wasn't on constant edge all the time and feel as if I'm in danger. I always feel as if someone is going to pound down my door and try to hurt me.

Hello Amethyst_Stargazer. I have nightmares as well and they're definitely related to my anxiety but also to some internalized anger that I may have carried over through the day - and that influences my dreams in the form of nightmares. I'm real sorry the anxiety has come into your life the way it has, but it's good to see you're doing your best to manage it. I think if you can work through the PTSD everything will be fine after that. It will.