Insomnia caused by anxiety.

[Andy999]

Hey I’ll try make this brief.

ive suffered from an anxiety disorder for some years now, and for a large period of that time I suffered from some insomnia too.

some nights were better then others, some were terrible, but it was always there. I tried all sorts of techniques, some could be helpful. I know for a fact the only thing keeping me up was my anxiety about being able to fall asleep. It was rarely other general anxiety keeping me up. I found what worked best for me was just resting and telling myself “rest and better then nothing “ I’d feel calmer about the situation and fall asleep eventually.

anyway I noticed it had been quite a while since I had these problems. After years of it bringing me down everyday I noticed I don’t even think about getting to sleep anymore. I’d gotten past this issue in my life.

just realising this though sparked my anxiety, the anxious thought of “Could it start happening again” it kept eating at me all day. I tried to push it away tell myself it’s an unhelpful thought but there is where I lose the battle. It was already to late and it happened. It kept me up all lastnight I don’t know if I slept at all, and all night and now this morning all these worried thoughts come at me “will this be a thing again” “what if I can’t sleep anymore I won’t be able to go to work” even just looking at anything now my anxiety will find a way to relate anything to the ‘fact’ that I can’t sleep anymore.

I just feel so powerless to the anxiety sometimes. I’m not in control, I see the problem but I’m struggling to take that control back. I am currently seeing a psych and that helped with understanding a lot but I’ve clearly got work to do. Just hoping people maybe had an input or some advice?

thanks!

[Sophie_M]

Hey there and welcome to the forums! 

We really appreciate you posting about your experince with anxiety. We're sure that a lot of our community members will relate to these feelings and hopefully some of them will pop by to offer you words of wisdom and kindness. Anxiety can be so tricky. We can have good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks. It's important on days like this that you look at all the progress you have made over a long period of time and keep in mind that relapses and bad days are unfortunately a common part of managing anxiety. Don't let the bad days cloud you from seeing that you do have good days and have made lots of progress. 

Our counsellors are always here to talk you through things on those rough mental health days. They are available 24/7 by phone on 1300 22 4636 or on Webchat 3pm-12am AEST on our website: www.beyondblue.org.au/getsupport  One of our friendly counsellors will be able to talk through these feelings with you and can offer support, advice and referrals. 

Additionally, the following pages on our website might be helpful for you to read over when you get some time. Treatments for Anxiety- https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety/treatments-for-anxiety  Anxiety management strategies - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety/treatments-for-anxiety/anxiety-management-strategies  Reducing stress- https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/staying-well/reducing-stress 


Mod Support. 

[Gambit87]

Hi Andy999,

I have a bit of sleep anxiety, I only sleep about 6 hours I always wonder how well I'm going to sleep and how well I'll cope the next day. Before I seeking help for my mental health problems, I was up and down like a yoyo, my quality of sleep was terrible and the lack of sleep made affected me.

Thing that have worked for me -

Getting my anxiety under control (easier said then done I know), If im calm and relaxed then I sleep alot better. Since seeking help and speaking to a psychologist my anxiety has got better.

sleep hygiene - its worth doing a bit of googling

Being kind to yourself and forgiving yourself. My negative thoughts would always go into overdrive when I had a bad nights sleep and it would always make me feel worse.

Now, when I don't sleep properly or don't get the best sleep I say to myself 'So, I had a bad night and thats OK... today is a new day, I forgive myself and I'll just try again tonight' It becomes a pretty powerful tool because it changes your thought process and you actually feel better about it. It takes practice but its working for me.

all the best!

we're here for you!

[CyP]

Hi Andy999,

Thank you for sharing your experience . I believe many of us would be able to relate to the sleep difficulties to different extent. It sounds like you have been trying and have tried different ways to help with the sleeping routine. I'm really sorry to hear that the sleep difficulty is still there and has been there for quite some time. It seems to be having an impact on your mood, thoughts, energy levels, and diet too .

It can get really tricky when the anxiety/worries becomes part of the reciprocal cycle with sleep disturbances. I'm glad to hear that you have a little'mantra' you tell yourself to calm the nerves down and break the cycle.

I believe different strategies will work for different people, and some may work better than others depending on the individual's preference, lifestyle, and access to support and materials. It is a trial and error process but some of the sleep hygiene and lifestyle habits, no matter how small, might have an impact in longer term if we try to give it time,
to see if it might work. If we improve 1% a day, we improve 30% in a month, in a year we may have a 365% improvement.

There will be tough days , so make sure you have a small list of self-care strategies up your sleeve too to look after youself .
I received this on RU ok day , and I'd love to share this with you too
https://www.actionforhappiness.org/self-care-september

The insominia cycle often need to be tackled from the bottom-up and the top-down, and so does anxiety.
Sophie_M's resources is a great start. Meanwhile, I also wonder if any particular sleep hygiene habits has had worked for you ? Eg dim lights, avoid caffeine, room temperature, down time etc... ?

Many of the coping strategies are about managing and practising , and its an ongoing process. It's great you are insightful around the pattern, so you can tackle the issue bottom-up and top-down.

I hope you have found some comfort and resonance in our forum, and some ideas to help with quality and quantity of sleep .

You're always welcome to drop back in for an update or comment. Warm wishes ,
CP

[CyP]

I forgot to mention if this is something you would consider discussing with your GP and have some check ins regularly too?

Warmy CP