Does anyone else get too scared to sleep?

Question

I am suffering with PTSD which means I get a lot of flashbacks. I am having counselling for this which is helping immensely.

I don't get much sleep, but lately I feel too scared to even try to sleep. Feel like I can't breathe and it feels like something terrible is going to happen if I do go to sleep. Does anyone else feel like this or have any tips on how to overcome it please? I am so shattered.

Answer 1

You only have one life and, presumably something terrible is substantially undermining it at the moment. You have the birth-right to a better quality of life. You have to believe that you should not suffer like this.
If I were you I would do three things. Carry on with the counselling as you sound very positive about that. Accept that you deserve something other than this overall unhappiness. But also, don't always try and oppose your feelings of negativity. Sometimes it is easing to allow the fear and pain to take over. It is better to experience (and so effectively cathartically express some of it) than to constantly repress the pain. Your mind is, in a sense acting against you. Playing tricks on you. You have to trick it back by developing rituals and saying mantras that counteract those tricks. The process of moving away from your fear will be not unlike the process of giving up an addiction, where it seems like Good Brain verses Evil Brain. Your mind can play tricks on you. But you can also play tricks on your mind.
Good luck! Believe in your own value and validity!

Answer 2

I don't have it but I do get stressed out sometimes
to where I can't sleep or I sleep a few hours and
wake up and can't go back to sleep.
What I try to do is find something that helps me
relax, sometimes I even get up and take a warm
bath, drink some warm milk or warm drink that
doesn't have caffiene like tea or cocoa, if you
know your going to be awake for a while you might
get something to read that will take your mind off
of whatever is bothering you.

Answer 3

yes i suffer PTSD to I also have depression and mental health problems
i suffer sleep apnoea which is scary try getting your GP to prescribe a tablet called singular this does help but you need to tackle your problem head on try what i do stay awake all night and if possible and have power naps it has been working for me don't smoke to much r take to much alcohol if you do these as it will aggravate t somewhat
gods blessings and hope you sleep better it all takes tie the flash backs are awful but you will overcome them in time
its never an easy road
but one that can be overcome

Answer 4

SLEEP and I mean it I have PTSD. You will end up hallucinating and I mean sight sound taste everything. The first signs of a "episode" are not sleeping you think you OK. You are not,you think your thoughts are right,they are not before you get worse please go to GP or nearest mental health dept or even A&E it's the most scariest thing that has ever happened to me and I attacked my own daughter my partner my doctor I left it too late and it took 3 year's for me to feel "normal" get help.

Answer 5

hi there,i feel for ya i went through something similar with panic attacks about 7 years ago,i find that if you have a warm bath and a hot cup of cocoa before bed this helps--- slightly.perhaps you should see your GP and ask him what options there are,he may give you sleeping pills which will help if you are really not getting a sleep.i used to find that lying on my side helps too,when i slept on my back i would often jump up and awaken out of my sleep feeling as if i cant breathe.I would really advise you to see a doctor though,he will help.

Answer 6

sleep apnea is a condition whereby you stop breathing many times during the night and can be quite frightening. during sleep your body is out of conscious control it is so as to speak on automatic pilot and if in bad health can cause problems that you can do something to help yourself when awake.however the body is very resilient and wakes you when something starts to go wrong.get your doctor to send you to a sleep disorder clinic.i have been to papworth for this condition

Answer 7

I do all the time. Its like you dont even WANT to lie down, you know what'll happed. And you lay down and you cant sit still and your chest hurts and you get all these memories, and if you tell anyone about it they think youre afraid of the dark and tease you like some chiuld, its something that you dread even during the day { sometimes}. I want t over come it too, but I cant, I want someone to talk to, you know? Maybe we can help eachother
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Answer 8

Hi,Tracy j,i too have suffered like that .That feeling that you can`t breathe and that something terrible may happen sounds like anxiety of which you should talk to your counsellor about.Also talk to your Doctor,he/she can help.What i try to do,is to think of something safe,warm and that i can trust.It may be a nice thought,a person or a good thing that happened that day.Try anything,really.Please talk to some one and try not to get worried.

Answer 9

i am not scared of flashbacks or anything, but i always feel like theres a 8 foot guy wearing black with a knife over my bed when i close my eyes, or if i open my eyes again a girls face will be centemeters away from mine. (so once i close my eyes i try to think of good happy things, even though its hard) and it takes me about 3 hours to get to sleep

-- good luck --

Answer 10

You have conditioned yourself not to sleep. Try some self-hypnosis. If you are in counselling I hope it is a cognitive therapist or behaviourist. Good luck.