Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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Anybody afraid to sleep?

ocdgirl
ocdgirl

I suffer from OCD, horrible intrusive thoughts that make me terrified to sleep. Can anybody relate?

kshakes1
kshakes1
My dreams are out of control whenever I fall asleep. I wake up with my heart racing and out of breath. So I stay awake pretty much all night.
ocdgirl
ocdgirl
I'm sorry. I suffer from super vivid dreams, thankfully they are usually non-scary, but it takes me awhile to orient myself after I wake from them. These intrusive thoughts though are so scary. :/
wildflowers44
wildflowers44
That must be so distressing, to not even feel you can have peace in your sleep. I can somewhat relate, as I, too, have OCD intrusive thoughts that have really disturbed me and have affected my sleep. However, it sounds like for you, these thoughts are having a very large impact on your ability to rest at night.

Is it that the OCD/intrusive thoughts manifest in your dreams? Or is it different?

I want to say too that while I can only imagine how distressing this all is for you, I think it makes sense that your OCD thoughts are appearing in your sleep. If your mind is racing during the day and you fall asleep with a racing mind, it makes sense that would carry on over into sleep.

I am wondering what treatments/techniques you have tried. OCD can really impact your quality of life, but luckily, there are treatments that can help.

I know it is so, so hard, but you can train yourself to see these thoughts as what they are - only thoughts, just as the millions of other thoughts that cross your mind in a day. They are completely harmless, besides the harm and distress they are causing you. And I don't mean to say "only" to negate the fact that these thoughts are extremely difficult to deal with, because that is true. I have just found that in my own experience, with thoughts that have really bothered me, the more I have allowed myself to become afraid of the thoughts and be bothered by them, the more power I was giving to them and the more they take over (I still do struggle A LOT with this). Also, I am not sure the exact nature of your thoughts, but regardless, these thoughts are separate from you and the core of your being, your heart and soul. These thoughts are a byproduct of the OCD. It's so hard, and it is definitely a process, but I know you can overcome this and get back to the peace and calm that is in your heart.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help and support you.
rskb3
rskb3
I am not afraid to sleep, I am just the opposite, I am afraid to be awake and deal with all of the anxiety and depression. If they could put me in a coma until I die that would be perfect for me.