The last month I’ve been hyper focusing/obsessing about falling asleep and thus it’s caused anxiety and keeps me up every night. I’m not sure how to do ERP around this and I want to get normal sleep again but it’s like my brain won’t shut off whenever I go to bed. Anyone have any tips?
I’m stuck in the same situation it gets better with time trust me at first it feels impossible to let that thought go but slowly you’ll be able to that..idk much about ERP though
Meditation before sleep helps. Also, when those kinds of thoughts cross your mind, like "what if I can't sleep again," you can tell yourself, "Okay, maybe I'll break the record for insomnia and not sleep at all," and then focus on your breathing. Don't drink caffeine or tea in the afternoon. Try to avoid taking any short naps during the day.
I use paradoxical intent, and sleep restriction. I learned the sleep restriction from having shiftwork sleep disorder. You set a time that you’re going to get up and you get up at that time no matter what. It’s more important that you get up at the same time every day, than it is that you go to bed at the same time. It sucks for about a week, and then your body figures it out, and you start getting tired and falling asleep easily.
@mav6 I got a rescue dog and kitten. What I didn’t realize was they were going to wake me up at the same time every day wanting to eat and play. A blessing in disguise. I was forced into a sleep schedule and after about a week I started getting to sleep faster and not waking up so much during the night. I used to sleep as late as I could trying to catch up on sleep and after a few days I would have trouble getting to sleep. Often I would never sleep. So lesson learned. You don’t need to adopt pets although they are so much fun but having a set sleep schedule really helps. The one thing I found is if I veered from a bedtime routine I would get anxious that I had messed up and wouldn’t be able to sleep. But after a while it became less of an issue because I had sleep reserves. I tend to catastrophize so I have to be careful to not set myself up for failure by ignoring my schedule. Hope that helps. I had a huge win this morning. In the past if I had an important activity scheduled I would get so anxious that I would not sleep at all the night before. Today is my granddaughters birthday party and I have been really looking forward to it. I went to sleep without a problem and the pets woke me up very early. I got up and fed them and went back to sleep. SUCCESS! So stick with erp and a schedule. I’m proof it works. I also understand that everyone has short nights. So don’t expect perfection. Remember none of us has the ability to know the future so when your brain says you won’t sleep label it OCD. Challenge the lies and get on with something that matters to you.
@Jeanne Oh yes. My dogs keep me on a schedule. Especially my lab. She hasn’t slept through the night since the day I got her and she always wants breakfast as soon as the birds start chirping outside. Sticking to a schedule has definitely improved my ability to fall asleep.
I write about not sleeping and what that feels like. I describe it in detail. How I will be awake when everyone else is sleeping. How I will struggle trying to sleep. What I will feel like the next day. Include frustration and feelings of failure. How overwhelmed I am night after night and how I dread going to bed. It feels like a battle. I can’t do the most basic function of sleep. Whatever your experience is. I record it and listen to it several times a day. Sometimes I read it out loud to see how it feels and what might change in my mind. Also take note at the end of each day what you did and what was positive in spite of being tired.
I've been getting really poor sleep quality due to my OCD. Anyone have any tips or tricks for a good night sleep?
Anyone have problems sleeping? Like thinking about falling asleep and it never happens? Or is this just ocd?
does anyone have any good tips for falling asleep and staying asleep that actually work. Not just staying off phone and that kind of thing before bed, i’ve tried that and it’s not helping. my sleep has already been bad but i think it was starting a new medication that has made it unbearable. i’ve never been this sleep deprived in my life and i’m not meant to take melatonin with the medication until i talk to a dr so does anyone have any non-medication/non-supplement tips?
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