durning the day I am fine, I can sit peacefully in my flat alone and be ok with it, but as night dawns I slowly start to feel a bit scared, I don't know like some kind of fear that something is going to happen to me, at night time I constantly think there is someone in my flat and I am so scared, I lay in bed and just close my eyes and clench my fists and even sometimes grab my teddy. This has only started to happen in the past few weeks and i'm unsure what triggered it. Its worse when my boyfriend drops me at the flat and then leaves again. Last night I managed to get to sleep and I was woken by a nightmare as I woke up I felt a hand touch my head, I panicked and started to freak out and then realised it was my own hand. I am so scared, I am so tired but something inside me is stopping me from going to sleep, I did some research and it says that frequent nightmares and fear of sleep is due to anxiety, but the thing is when someone is with me I can fall asleep no problem that fear seems to disapper. I am 21 so I am not some child, but I feel like a child afraid of the dark. I don't know what started this but every night seems to be like this, and I get frequent nightmares which are so realistic. can anyone help? have any suggestions (non medical) to help me sleep and to get rid of nightmares?
fear of sleeping, may this be due to my anxiety?
- Thread starter doctor_who
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MotherWolff
Banned
I had the same exact problem about 3 years ago. In 2010, I was diagnosed with my first disease, lupus. I knew I was ruined, physically, but I thought I would never be the same, mentally. I think the way I felt mentally was a combination of the lupus and very high doseage of prednisone (60mg). I would go weeks without any sleep whatsoever!
I always had this powerful fear that something or someone was going to get me. Even when my mom was home with me (which she should have been all the time) I would be too frightened to sleep. It got so bad that I would have visual and auditory hallucinations. The only way I couldsleep was if my mom was in the same room I was. As the lupus became less powerful and I was put on dialysis, it became easier for me to sleep on my own.
So what I'm suggesting to you is perhaps you need someone to sleep with you or near you to help ease you during the night. I hope that helps and I hope this lets you know that you aren't alone. And I was your age when all this was happening to me, by the way.
I always had this powerful fear that something or someone was going to get me. Even when my mom was home with me (which she should have been all the time) I would be too frightened to sleep. It got so bad that I would have visual and auditory hallucinations. The only way I couldsleep was if my mom was in the same room I was. As the lupus became less powerful and I was put on dialysis, it became easier for me to sleep on my own.
So what I'm suggesting to you is perhaps you need someone to sleep with you or near you to help ease you during the night. I hope that helps and I hope this lets you know that you aren't alone. And I was your age when all this was happening to me, by the way.
planetweirdo
Well-known member
I think that sometimes our anxiety causes us to worry about horrible things that could possibly happen to us even if we do not realy have any real reason to worry. When you start to feel afraid it my help to ask yourself questions like:
"What are the odds of someone breaking into my home tonight?"
"What poof do I have that shows that something bad will happen to me tonight?"
"Have anyone threatened to hurt me? If not why do I feel threatened?"
Some people do things to make themselves feel safer like get extra locks or bolts. It's best to have an security system installed.
I hope this helps.
"What are the odds of someone breaking into my home tonight?"
"What poof do I have that shows that something bad will happen to me tonight?"
"Have anyone threatened to hurt me? If not why do I feel threatened?"
Some people do things to make themselves feel safer like get extra locks or bolts. It's best to have an security system installed.
I hope this helps.
Kiwong
Well-known member
About 8 years ago, when I was overmedicated on blood pressure medicine, I used to drift off to sleep, and get horrible body spasms, that scared the hell out of me. Sleeping wasn't so much of a problem, but waking up into a new day of fatigue and dizziness was frightening.
I've lived on my own now for 21 years, and I am not scared of the dark at all. Sleep is a time of peace for me.
I've lived on my own now for 21 years, and I am not scared of the dark at all. Sleep is a time of peace for me.
last night it happened again, I was frozen on my sofa and couldn't get to sleep, I didn't even want to move into my bedroom because I was so scared so I just sat and just wished for the night to end. I managed to get myself moving about 4am and I went to sleep and woke up at 6am feeling tired exhausted and so disoriented, I then went back to sleep and woke up at 8am, i'm definatelty feeling sleep deprived today. my brain feels like scrambled eggs. Maybe should go to bed at a reasonable time before it gets too creepy, ive always been scared of the dark since I was little but normally I can manage it in normal ways like curling up under my covers but recently its been really hard to get to sleep! and my nightmares are terrible!
MotherWolff
Banned
I'm sorry to hear that you are still having those sleep problems, doctor who.
Do you ever listen to peaceful music? You could use iHeart, Pandora, Songza, or some other internet radio and play very calm, easy-listening music. This helps me sleep all the time. You should give it a shot!
Do you ever listen to peaceful music? You could use iHeart, Pandora, Songza, or some other internet radio and play very calm, easy-listening music. This helps me sleep all the time. You should give it a shot!