Trouble sleeping?

[Music_lover]

I always have trouble sleeping. Just today, I've been up for 24 hours. No sleep. The day before I only had 6 hours of sleep, which I manage to get on average evey night, usually less.

I'm not tired and I've been feeling sick all day. I've felt dizzy and my arms even felt detached from me for a few minutes.

I'm afraid I won't be bale to sleep again tonight. My brother had insomia, and still does. My mom believes I might have it too.

My main question is this: does anxiety/depression cause such bad sleep habits? Or do I just have a lot of stress?

Thanks.

-Holly

[juliana]

Hi Holly. I'm sorry I missed this post until now.

Anxiety and depression can mess with sleep big time. When you're in an anxious state, you're all hyped up and it seems impossible to make your brain shut off. It's hard to sleep when you have so many thoughts racing through your head.

I've been in that situation many times. I tend to get that dizzy, sick feeling too. It's that past-tired feeling where it feels like you'll never fall asleep again.

Have you tried lying down at bed time and maybe trying to read a book? Sometimes you have to force yourself to do it. The times when I've stayed up for a couple of days in a row, I tend to not even go near my bed. That's a big mistake. I'm up and doing things all the time, so I don't even give myself the chance to fall asleep.

I think you'll crash soon. Once you do manage to get some sleep, try to get yourself into a regular sleep pattern. Go to bed at the same time every night -- even if you're not tired. Sometimes you need to train yourself to go to sleep. Try not to stress too much about whether or not you're going to fall asleep. Try not to think about it too much. Just decide that you're going to get in bed and lie there for an hour. Give your mind some distraction problems to work on -- alphabetize band names or songs or something. Chances are, you'll fall asleep.

Take care sweetie. Keep us posted.

[hoppipolla]

yeah i have patches of insomnia ._.

at the moment i am ok, but they come and go in like, patches of say 2 weeks. It got quite bad at points too.

i'm trying to remember what helps me through them...

the number one thing that ALWAYS works for me (this is going to sound crazy) ... Jane Austen books! hehehe :D Pride and Prejudice and Emma always send me off before i've even gotten through the first chapter... sorry Jane Austen fans! lol

Some other things though are warm drinks, herbal teas, keeping the light level around you low for a few hours before you want to go to bed (roughly, just to simulate the day becoming darker), lavender, counting sheep (it does actually work!) erm... oh and maybe listening to something might help, like a book narration or something, something slow and stuff like that.

Another one might be meditation/relaxation techniques (sorry i know i've bombarded you with a lot! it's just a shame i can't take my own advice and get rid of anxiety myself lol).

take care and good luck!

Hoppi! :D