Insomnia Support Group
Insomnia is a symptom, rather than a disease, and is characterized by inadequate quantity or quality of sleep. People with insomnia complain of difficulty falling or staying asleep, which results in significant impairment of daytime functioning. Insomnia is categorized as transient (shorter than one week), short-term (one to three weeks) or chronic (longer than three...
I've been suffering with insomnia basically all my life (I'm 27). I've only recently realized that it was linked with anxiety and have been working hard to cope with the triggers. Since my last bad episode in June, I've started going to yoga, been seeing a psychologist and taken the occasional ativan. I haven't had much anxiety since and find these couple things have really been helping.
ATM my sleeping is ok. I have no trouble with falling asleep, its the waking up in the middle of the night that causes me problems. I wake up at 430 usually and with the thoughts rolling in I'll wake myself up and then theres no hope of falling back. Wondering if any of you suffer the same sleep problem or type of insomnia and if theres any tricks or methods that you use to get back to sleep. I've tried the getting out of bed until I'm tired again and breathing exercices but not having much luck. I would appricate any advice. Thank you :)
My first suggestion would be to ban from your mind the idea that "there's no hope" of falling back asleep. Of course there is, that's just your anxiety talking. But that negative thought helps fuel and perpetuate the problem.
Getting up and out of bed if you are absolutely too tense to sleep isn't a bad idea, just head back when you begin to feel drowsy. Also your breathing exercises, especially combined with progressive muscle relaxation can work.
Personally, I use self-hypnosis for these common wakeups. It combines the relaxation method with auto-suggestion, and is very effective for me.
If your overall sleeping right now is OK, you will probably be well served by just letting the worry go about these wakeups. Stay with your plan because it sounds like it's working.