Phobia of not sleeping

[SumitP]

Almost like 2 months backs I had a trouble sleeping whole night. I dont know why but most probably ( i think so) it was due to heavy weight lifiting in evening and a black coffee.  Now after this incident I have a  phobia in my mind that I will not be able to sleep and this haunt me whole day. During night even I am feeling sleepy I have this in my mind that I will not sleep and hence a very disturbed sleep. Anyone please help. Should I meet any doctor?

[Esya]

I can so relate to this. So, first off, you are not alone! Secondly, I overcame it on my own, so there is a way out! And very good of you to speak up about it.

I have anxiety and at one point I got anxiety mostly before bed and panic attacks about the fact that I could/would not sleep, which made it so much worse. Starting your night with a good hour of crying does not help.

I am trying to remember what helped for me:

1. Discovering that I am not my fear, but that I have a fear. Realising that I have thoughts and that I am not my thougts. So when I was thinking something that was created by the fear, I would try my best to change my thoughts to what I wanted to think. For me the fear actually sometimes felt like it was outside myself, like a voice or a monster in my head. So at times I would talk to it and tell it how wrong it was (or my boyfriend would ask me to say what the voice was saying and he would speak back, learned so many good come back lines for it from him).

2. Doing 5 minutes of yoga before bed to calm the body down. You might not be in as much control over the mind as over you body, but they co-exist. And it is easier for the mind to be calm in a calm body. As well as phobias and anxiety having the tendency to create tension in your shoulders, neck and jaw, so it is good to try and release that.

3. Do a breathing exercise before going to sleep.

Now when I wake up in the middle of the night due to my anxiety I can calm myself back down by doing a combination of breathing exercise and child's pose.

I am not saying you should not see a doctor. I don't know how much sleep you are getting at the moment and for the short term a sleep pill could help you out. I can only share my own experience. However, for the long term you will have to find a way to get this phobia under control. The doctor can also get you an appointment with a psychologist if you feel you could use help with this from one.

One thing that I learned myself:

Try not to go overboard with all the sleeping aids like tea, oils etc. etc. While they can help you fall asleep as they calm the body and nervous system, the problem for us is in our minds and I found that the more I relied on those kind of aids the stronger my mind became about not going to sleep.

[SumitP]

Many Thanks Eysa! I will try implementing your ideas. Will let you know after I overcome this

[Esya]

Also it is not a sprint. There will be better and worse nights while you fight your way out of this. Try to focus on the improvements you make, specially when you feel you are back down at the bottom of your phobia again.