[findpeace]

I have found Insomnia Coach to be a helpful, valuable resource. I do not limit my days activities after a short sleep night and try to live my values as recommended (ACT therapy). The automatic trigger of uncontrollable waves of negative emotions, anxiety, fear, frustration and anger are intense for me on the day following little/no sleep. (My Amygdala erupting) I feel like a completely different, horrible person than after a night with a minimum 4 hour sleep block. Being/feeling “at ease” after a very short night seems to be almost impossible for me, my nerves are on fire, my thinking suddenly distorted and negative. Accepting thoughts as just thoughts becomes much more difficult as does all the other great advice.

Scientific American mentions “emotional fragility” after no sleep in this Link:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-just-one-sleepless-night-makes-people-emotionally-fragile/

Has anyone else encountered intense automatic emotional disruption after a really short night? Having “good days” even after really short nights is not something I have encountered.. I do not know how to “turn off” my sleep deprived brain reaction. I can sit with the anxiety and discomfort without pushing it away and making it worse. I can dial it down a bit with mindfulness practice. Distraction and carrying on with positive activities does not help much, just sleep immediately fixes it.

Ideas? Comments?

[maperrbz]

I can’t say I have any specific advice, but just that I wanted to say this sounds very difficult. I don’t think it’s always possible, at least not for everyone, to maintain emotional equilibrium while sleep deprived. I know in the past, I used to get horrible anxiety when I slept 4 or less hours a night. I wasn’t anxious about not sleeping – I was just plain anxious! It felt like the slepplessness created anxiety in my physiology. I don’t think we can deny that we are biological beings impacted by life circumstances, insomnia being one of them. Perhaps you will just have to accept that this is how your body reacts to a significant lack of sleep, and not expect more than what your body can deliver under these circumstances. I wish I had some helpful insight to offer. All I can say is I’m sure you’re not alone in struggling with negative emotions and reactions. I hope you can get to the point where this sort of sleep deprivation and its consequences are a thing of the past.

[findpeace]

Yes very helpful thought to accept my anxiety as the body doing the best it can under the circumstances of little sleep. This maybe falls into the realm of self compassion. Not giving myself a hard time for not always feeling cheerful after a disrupted night. Knowing I will sleep and will now have more sleep drive the next night helps.

[maperrbz]

I love what you said about self-compassion and your body doing the best it can. Yes! For me, when I first heard that I should just go through my days after a poor night’s sleep as I would any other day, with my full activities on board, I felt like too much was being asked of me – as if I shouldn’t experience the physical and emotional difficulty of what that sometimes felt like. But as I listened to more of Martin’s podcasts, I did hear the wisdom of extending kindness to one’s self and the acceptance of the difficulty of not always feeling well after a short night of sleep. For awhile, I was fighting not only my insomnia, but also fighting my body’s physiological response to sleep deprivation. I found a nice balance now between doing the best I can to carry on as “normal” during my sleep-short days and extending self-acceptance, self-care, and self-kindness/compassion when needed for the very difficult moments. Wishing you the best on this journey!

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