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Just a quick question I have had big problems sleeping for 3 months now because of anxiety which I’m seeing a psychologist for. My fears have gone from one aspect of sleep to another as I have been diagnosed with OCD which makes a person think their thoughts are dangerous. I’m doing CBT therapy for these worries and I’m on top of some of them but other ones keep cropping up which is pretty scary. I’ve just started getting anxious about dreams as well which I know isn’t logical but I’ve got this crazy fear that I will realise im dreamimg and will be trying to wake up from the dream and I won’t be able to. Has anyone on this forum had a problem like this and do they think the CBT will help with this anxiety.
I’ve had anxiety and wakeful dreams both together for 2.5 years now. I think mine was triggered by severe sleep deprivation to the point of hallucination. The dreams were bad for the first couple of weeks but I made nothing of them and although I kept getting woken up by dreams, the eventually become pretty neutral. However, lately, for some reason, I have developed a fear of them and altough bad dreams are so rare, I seem to be scared of the idea of dreaming. This has reduced the quality of my sleep, but I’m just about able to get enough sleep so I can feel fully functional throughout the day.
I don’t fear waking up in my dreams and not be able to escape. In fact, becoming aware that I’m dreaming(also known as being lucid) is quite fun and this for me has been the only plus side of these wakeful dreams, but this doesn’t happen anymore. Maybe you haven’t had a lucid dream yet, but waking up in a dream and realising you’re dreaming, you can then go on and do fun things. Fly, ask your brain questions and get interesting answers, see people you don’t see anymore and hear their voices again. Maybe that will provide some motivation that may help you got over that fear.
But for me the problem has become the very idea of dreaming itself regardless of whether the dream is bad. I don’t want this to be the case because the last 2.5 years it wasn’t a problem at all. I haven’t been seeing anyone for CBT yet but hope to soon, and I’m also going to be starting meditation since I think it’s hyperarousal that is waking me up in the middle of the night.
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