Delibratley not sleeping. is that insomnia?

Question

i have been delibratley (cant spell) staying up through the night. i will only sleep 4-5 hours a night. or sometimes id sleep one day stay up the next day, sleep the next day etc. is this bad. what are the effects of insomnia? soz this is so long. please answer! ta!

Answer 1

It is not insomnia,
Insomnia is when you can't sleep.
Keeping yourself awake can be a form of control, your body will make you sleep at some point.
I suppose I would call it a mild form of self harm.

I have done this in the past when I have had no control over something.
I normally end up getting a migraine and that makes me sleep.

Answer 2

Well, you are not alone - I have been doing that for around 6 years now - starting with times when id have to do all-nighters at University, and then ending up becoming a habit - it meant that during periods when I had nothing to do during the night, I would end up creating things to do - e.g. watch dvds, play online games, go to chat, make food, etc - until it got to the stage that each night I started to feel hungry, want to watch a movie, do this or that - before id actually feel tired - it also meant that any chat buddies id speak to online were in different time zones - and resulted in a shift of social habits - e.g. talk to a friend in another continent, but couldnt meet friends here due to being too tired!.
The problem with this is it means you end up having to either sleep for 16 hours (for example after 48 hours awake) and end up losing perhaps a whole day - or just sleep through each day when possible (sadly Uni/Jobs/Social life makes this inconvenient at best!) this time loss leads you to start forgetting what day it is/lose track of the time - until a year goes by just like a minute - the next stage is when you notice how time is slipping you by and you end up feeling anxious and depressed - you start to feel that your life is meaningless...
In any case - what may have started out as a form of self-control ultimately becomes a form of self-destruction - it leads to a waste of your life, and affects your social life/career - as well as your mental well being.
Good luck to you - I have been trying to break the habit for years, and despite being aware of the negatives, I feel as if it is hard to break out of it - espresso/energy drinks/walks in the countryside - all have helped - but beware of comfort foods! - those little b@st**ds just end up becoming things you feel you need - and since you end up going without sleep for so long, you begin to look for things to fill the void!
try to wear a watch with 1 hour beeps or something so you become more aware of the time - and if possible get your 8 hours sleep, 8 hours work, 8 hours leisure.

Answer 3

try a nice relaxing hot bath with herbal bubble bath. then get into snug pj's get a red bulb for your bedroom and try putting a nice happy film on before bed? get into bed around an hour before, put a film on get a hot cup of milk (auto relaxant) and then drift to sleep :-) works for me and i suffer insomnia. but staying on a computer tricks your brain into thinking its daytime because of the lighting. which makes you wide awake. hence why i said an hour before you want to sleep, put your phone and laptop away.

Answer 4

if your doing this because you want to then its not insomnia insomnia is when you can not sleep when you want to not when stopping self

Answer 5

Let me tell you friend, often when people have genuine emotional problems they actually believe that they are doing it on purpose. I'm not saying that this is you, but just something I have come accross. Is it possible you are on disability and want to believe that you are really ok? MAny of us are dgoing thru things and we totally understand

Answer 6

i can and will go without sleep. but as far as i know it isnt insomnia unless you cant help it??

Answer 7

if you keep up this pace it will become habit for you and when you need to sleep to go to school, a job or an appt, you wont be ready cause you'll be sleeping

Answer 8

Moody you need to get a life. Sleep like ordinary teens and you will start behaving normally, try it, it really works!

Answer 9

Not the most healthy practice, but it won't kill you. When your body has had enough abuse, you'll know.

Answer 10

No, that's just strange. why are you doing that?