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Insomnia Strategy

Discussion in 'General Discussion Subforum' started by Ellen, Jul 16, 2016.

  1. Ellen

    Ellen Beloved Grand Eagle

    Ines, eskimoeskimo and mike2014 like this.
  2. mike2014

    mike2014 Beloved Grand Eagle

    Thanks Ellen, I'll add it to my tools.
     
  3. Ellen

    Ellen Beloved Grand Eagle

    I tried this app last night when rumination was keeping me from falling asleep, and it works! I fell asleep before the 20 min app was done.
     
  4. futuredancer

    futuredancer Peer Supporter

    I had really bad insomnia when I was 22 and I eventually was able to sleep normal after two years of antidepressants. Nevertheless, it didn't solve the root cause. By 35, I was back in the same loop. And one day, after months of sleeping about 2 hours per night, sth happened. I was in bed, and I had this thought in my mind: "I doesn't matter if I never sleep again. I will be a zombie, I will feel really shitty at work, but I don't care if I never sleep again". After that, I fell asleep in a minute. Since that happened, I never had trouble sleeping again. And If I have sth in my head and feel like i wont be able to sleep, I just think it is ok to be feeling horrible tomorrow. I don't care if dont sleep. So the fear does not feed my insomnia and I fall asleep. I wish I could do the same with my other symptoms. But I hope my experience with insomnia can help someone else.
     
    Ines likes this.
  5. TG957

    TG957 Beloved Grand Eagle

    I second this approach.

    My way of clearing a 30+ year long severe insomnia was not that straightforward. I used to wake up between 1 am and 3 am like clockwork and not be able to go back to sleep. Even when I slept, my sleep was shallow and more tiring than refreshing. Anti-anxiety medication helped, for few years, then stopped. I became a zombie, dreading 10 pm when I would go to bed. Once I started Sarno's approach, I applied it to my nightly anxiety attacks. It worked! As I woke up, I turned to what I call "a Sarno thought", thinking about the emotions behind my anxiety, trying to unwind it to the causes and triggers. Over time, I added guided meditations for anxiety and re-connection with inner child - those seemed to put me back to sleep after 30 minutes.

    Slowly, I noticed that my dread and fear of insomnia started calming down. The less I feared insomnia, the easier it became to cope with waking up and to go back to sleep. My anxiety does not rise anymore as I lie awake at 3 am, because I am confident that sooner or later I will fall asleep. I do have bad nights occasionally - last one was bad. But I went back to sleep without xanax and I woke up about 90% myself - which is a lot.

    Conquering insomnia was an unexpected side benefit of the Dr. Sarno's knowledge "penicillin", but certainly one of the most welcomed. I still have a long way to go before I can claim success with my symptoms. But I am becoming more and more confident that my insomnia can be tamed and that it is up to me to make it happen.
     
  6. Tennis Tom

    Tennis Tom Beloved Grand Eagle

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