[Carole]

I’ve become so focussed on sleep that my anxiety starts as soon as I get out of bed and builds as the day progresses. Any tips and advice on managing sleep anxiety?

[Ryan]

I was in the same boat for a long time but it gets better once you start sleeping. You’ll care less and less about it as you get into a rhythm. CBTI techniques work. One of the things it teaches is to set an appointment to worry. For example, if you notice you’re worrying as soon as you wake up, it’s a good time to say to yourself that you appreciate the thought, but you’ll worry at a specific time later that day. Give yourself time to worry during that window and then be done with it for the day.

[GladysC]

I’ve had long-term insomnia for over 30 years and can tell you that in my search for solutions, I have never found anything that works 100% of the time. I have tried many different medication’s, meditation, tapping, OTC treatments, cold showers, hot baths, practicing good sleep hygiene, and even CBT, but never anything that is effective all the time. The causes and correlations of insomnia are complex and it’s difficult to pinpoint what may have started it, however, knowing that may not be very helpful in solving it. What I believe is at the root of insomnia is anxiety, whether anticipatory or clinical in nature. Once that can be addressed, dealing with the other factors that are impacting sleep loss can be more effective.

[Martin Reed]

Hello Carole! Sometimes, anxiety itself isn’t the real problem — it’s our natural human desire to fight or avoid it that gets us tangled up in an endless struggle.

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Julymorning]

Carole, this is me what you are describing. Have you had any improvements with this day anxiety that builds up during the day?

Hope you are doing well and thank you!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by Julymorning.

[Noelle]

I am in the same boat right now. I’ve just joined the forum and created my own post, asking for insight on CBTI from experienced patients/clients, but when I read your post, I immediately wanted to respond.

Do you know if there is anything during the day that can distract you from the anxiety? For me, it’s feeling like I’m able to still be somewhat productive. I’m a doctoral candidate in Germany (I’m from California), and I have a very unstructured schedule that I have to figure out how to work with. I had the sleep anxiety years before I became a doctoral student, but it has gotten so much worse here since I started my program. I think procrastination plays a big role in this for people in my situation.

Anyway, when you mentioned feeling sleep anxiety from the moment you get out of bed, it really resonated. What do you do during the day to cope with those feelings? I ask because I also want to find a way to overcome this.

In solidarity,
Noelle

[Carole]

Hi Noelle – From the time i wrote my post to now I have improved quite a bit and I no longer have sleep dominating my thoughts from the minute I wake up which is a huge step forward. The anxiety hasn’t completely gone though, I start to think about sleep about an hour before I go to bed and if i lie there for a long time, it can come back but I try to turn it on his head and think “so what if I don’t sleep, I’ve been here before and survived” (the worst episode I had was 4 days without sleeping) How did I improve? I educated myself as much as I could. I used the time I was anxious to learn and watched a lot of videos (sometime the same one a few times) from Martin Reed and also Daniel Erichsen on You Tube and I bought Daniel Erichsen’s book. A key moment for me was watching Martin Reed’s talk with Jade Wu – Busting sleep and insomnia myths because this one helped take the fear away given my anxiety was around what lack of sleep could be doing to my body longer term. It was such a powerful talk – I call it my breakthrough moment. It might sound like being so focused by watching all of these talks would make it worse but for me it helped. I’d been trying to problem solve my insomnia (sleep hygiene, pills) and in hindsight I know now that i was feeding it and making it worse Now I average about 5 hours, sometimes it’s broken but I stick to 3 rules; 1. A set wake up time 2. No day time napping and 3. No pills. I’ve also learned the difference between tired and sleepy which means my go to bed time can vary. I do still feel tired during the day but I can function and I’m back to doing all the things I’d given up because of the insomnia (which had taken over my life). I’m still hoping that overtime I can fully let go and sleep longer. I really hope you can overcome it too.

Take care
Carole

[Noelle]

Thanks for the quick reply, Carole. We are very much in the same place.

I have also given up pills (I thankfully only ever used OTC tablets), and I do not nap during the day. I think all that remains is to set a wake time and stick to it no matter what. I will have a look at the sources you suggested as well.

Thank you again.

In solidarity,
N

[Author]

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