[sachu94]

I’ve suffered from OCD and tons of anxiety for 12 years but I never experienced any sleeping difficulty.  In fact, I’d sleep through the day and whenever possible to escape obsessive thoughts.  After my final medical school exams on Sep 18, I began excessively worrying about the results every day for over a month.  My anxiety went through the roof.  It was like  a sense of doom if I failed. Maybe my anxiety crossed a borderline.

On Oct 16, 2018 I began experiencing insomnia and it’s been more than 2 weeks. I can only sleep at night and I have awakenings in the middle of the night and find it difficult to go back to sleep  It seems to be improving because last night I managed to sleep 8 hours although I woke up many times in the night and found it difficult to go back to sleep.  Sleeping during day seems impossible now.  My problem is I feel sleepy but I can’t initiate sleep easily or maintain it. Now all my anxiety has shifted to my sleep.  Will I regain my previous capacity  to sleep? How long is it gonna take? Is this condition gonna become chronic?  I feel suicidal.  I can take OCD but I can’t take this. Sleep was my escape from all the shit in my life and now I’ve lost it.

Thank you guys

[Martin Reed]

First of all, if you are feeling suicidal, please seek help immediately. I believe you are in India. Here is a list of organizations in India that can help:

http://www.suicide.org/hotlines/international/india-suicide-hotlines.html

We never lose our ability to sleep. You can regain your previous capacity to sleep.

Your sleep issues were triggered by a period of heightened stress — and this is completely normal! However, after the stressful period passed, your sleep continued to suffer. That is probably because you began thinking a lot about sleep and worrying about your sleep.

Unfortunately, as soon as we worry about sleep, pay it a lot of attention, or try to control sleep, we immediately make sleep more difficult. That’s because these actions activate our arousal system (also known as the ‘fight or flight’ response).

Prolonged periods of little to no sleep build up a strong sleep drive — and that is why, after a period of very poor sleep you found that you managed to get eight hours of sleep. This is evidence that you are still capable of sleep.

Have you looked into CBT for insomnia? You may want to ask your doctor about this since it will help address the anxiety and worry you have towards sleep. When you begin to reduce this anxiety and worry, your sleep will begin to improve.

Good luck, and keep in touch.

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