[LeosMom]

My question is what do you do after numerous nights of maybe 3 hours of sleep? I’m a total mess. How can you not obsess over sleep when you can barely function?! Having a very hard time.

[Chee2308]

Hello
Don’t shut out unpleasant thoughts out because it doesn’t work. Just accept them as well as your obessesion with sleep while trying to get on with your life as much as possible. Very slowly everything is going to settle down and you find letting go easier as you go along. Learn to get comfy with being awake and not fear it. By being very patient and sticking to a regular bedtime schedule, you will slowly but surely get better.

[Mona352]

I have insomnia and an ongoing anxiety disorder. If anxiety is spiraling out of control it makes me unable to function. My CBT-I psychologist recently told me that before I continue with her it might be beneficial to work on extreme obsessive thinking (generalized anxiety disorder). I’ve been doing poorly with therapy because of the anxiety. Sometimes it’s good to look at whatever will be best for you. Each person is different in emotional and psychological makeup. It’s not as cut and dry as saying “don’t shut out unpleasant thoughts”. We’re not all of the same molds. Sometimes it’s good to get combination therapies and see what works best for you. I just couldn’t take my anxiety spiraling out of control anymore. Constant anxiety and obsessive thinking are worth getting guidance for. I’m speaking from decades of experience as someone with generalized anxiety disorder

[Chee2308]

Hi Mona
I do agree in a kinda way that everyone’s different. But from my experience, the suffering, especially if associated with insomnia, only persists because people want so badly to escape it and are very unwilling to experience whatever unpleasantness that they think is causing them and in some cases, end up spending a lifetime fearing and hating it so much. Since you said you’ve had this for decades and seen a ton of therapists, so where has all that gotten you anyway? Why hasn’t anything worked? Has it ever crossed your mind that actually nothing’s wrong and you are trying to solve an impossible puzzle?

I am also not sure why you think anyone in a forum like this, people who hardly know you let alone seen or evaluated you face-to-face can offer any form of beneficial advice above and beyond what these experts you are seeing or have seen haven’t already given you. I don’t think anyone here is qualified to give advice on mental illness, this is just a forum to improve sleep. But I would like to add that sleep still happens regardless what state of mind a person is in anyway. I am not sure why, after claiming to suffer from this for decades, that you think something is horribly wrong while you are still around after so many years, safe and sound, and that if something horrible were to happen from all this, it would certainly already have by now. You sound pretty normal to me! Maybe you are just being confused but having had this for so long, you may have conditioned your brain to fear something that’s completely normal and harmless (which is that some degree of sleeplessness is normal and happens to everyone) and your response becomes automatically triggered by harmless nothings over time. Anyhow, I wish you find some relief soon and best wishes.

[Mona352]

I have seen therapists and been evaluated. I have nothing else to say. You don’t know my history or what I might have been through. I’m seeing a sleep therapist now but she just recommended that I see someone who specializes in anxiety disorders and depersonalization. I have some issues that run far deeper than insomnia. I never had insomnia until 6-7 years ago. You can’t judge someone solely on the little they know about a person. We all are like a puzzle and multifaceted. Sorry, you misunderstood what I’ve stated. As for myself, I can’t judge what I don’t know. Maybe it’s time I get out of this forum, idk.

[Chee2308]

Thank you for participating and good bye. Wishing you the best

[Mona352]

Hopefully, you understand what I’ve written about. We are not just our insomnia because most of us have multifaceted mental and emotional aspects. Just concentrating on insomnia doesn’t paint a full picture of what we’re experiencing

[Angeli]

Hello LeosMon!

I also arrived in this state. I couldn’t even work anymore. I lived on leave. No driving or anything. Total despair. What worked for me was the CBTi. I tried everything. It took me 20 years to dwell in the hell of sleepless nights. In 2 months I got what I didn’t get in 20 years of searching. You didn’t say if you’ve ever taken Martin’s course, which I totally recommend. If CBTi still hasn’t solved your problem, maybe it’s because you haven’t fully embraced this simple technique. Remember that if you don’t do the right thing, the adrenaline generated by the nocturnal panic will perpetuate your insomnia and anxiety. I finally stopped all searches, therapies and treatments. Today I am out and free from prison. If you can, read all the posts on this forum as well. Here, through the guidance of those who managed to win and are longer, you will find your way, I’m sure of it. Because that’s exactly what I did. Good night! (sorry for the english)

[Author]

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