Nighttime Anxiety is the WORST!!!

Every night this week i keep telling myself im going to get to bed a little early, early for me being midnight or eleven! last night i told myself that and was up until four in the morning.
Its so hard to clear my mind and get to sleep. As soon as I try I start worrying about my health, worrying if I have cancer or some other disease. Then i start worrying about dieing.
Thats been the worst. Its like i just cant stop. and so one night i thought i would turn on the tv and try to fall asleep, and that made things waaay worse! i turned on rocko's modern life, thinking an old stupid cartoon would be just the thing. Well just my luck that this particular episode was all about going to hell, and never being able to get out. for a kids cartoon the devil in it was very scary and disturbing.
So as you can imagine that only made things worse! i think i cried and prayed for 2 hours straight before i finally fell asleep. Im not even sure i believe in God. I believe there is something, but Im not sure what.
All im sure of is that im scared every night. I feel like a little kid again, even though now im not scared of the dark. well, unless i watch something really scary, so now i avoid horror films! haha, my sad attempt at humor.

Any thought, comments, and/or advice would be appreciated, as long as its not intentionally mean.
Good luck and best wishes to all you other insomniacs!

 

i know sort of how you feel, with the way your mind won't switch off. i smoke weed to go to sleep, or get drunk, or just stay awake until i fall asleep. i'm not recommending that you or anyone ele try those things, but it's my way of doing it.

 

I can relate to an extent. I tell myself I'll sleep early (for me early is anything before 2AM) but I always end up lying there either obsessively checking for spiders or other bugs in my room, listening out for any potential burglars or murderers, going around looking for my cats making sure they're safe and all accounted for or having all kinds of thoughts swirl around my mind. I have to avoid horror movies because they disturb my mind so much that there is just no point in even trying to sleep for days afterwards. Even seeing a horror movie trailer on TV by accident has this effect. It drives me insane. A lot of the time I can't sleep until sun up (4AM in summer; 8AM winter) and it worries me because when I eventually get a job, it's going to be extremely hard for me to wake up in the mornings, or get any sleep at all in the case of winter.

Have you tried going to your doctor and enquiring about sleeping pills, or just buying them over the counter? They could help a lot, and the ones I've tried really did work (though sadly came along with every side-effect known to man in my case). Or alternatively you could load up an MP3 with some of your favorite songs and listen to that through some headphones while trying to sleep to keep your mind off of bad things. It helps to make a 'sleepy playlist' full of sleepy songs that can help you fall asleep faster, too. :]

 

I tried using my IPOD too to help when I get to sleep and it honestly can really help , just be careful with what type of music your playing with your mood. I have a whole section of songs with are safe for me and help when I'm trying to get to sleep.
Do you like the Friends TV series? I find watching tv helps me but it has to also be someone light and easy to watch (I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't watch horrors :smile or I read a book, always seem to get tired quicker reading a book.
If your drs not helpful with the sleeping tablets, some seem to be quite picky, I found that Nytol one a night helped me for a short period of time, it just gave me a chance to get a bit more sleep for a few nights so I could try to recoup abit more. Sorry if none of these suggestions are helpful and I hope you manage to get some rest soon x

 

O you did not just call Rocko stupid!lol


Yes I know how you feel every friggen night 3-4 (2;30 now)


Mainly because night is the only time I can cone on SF without risking someone finding

 

This is exactly what I do. Especially if I've been up for a while.

Cartoons help me, sometimes. But my mom always have to have those murder shows on (which makes my anxiety worse). :/

 

I tend to fall asleep alot earlier. Just depends, some nights I lie there awake for like 2 hrs...

It's not my amount of sleep that's the problem, it's how good it is for me. I just don't seem to benefit from sleep an awful lot, I'm usually tired all day long.

 

if i don't fall asleep by midnight i wont be sleeping that night. (kindof like tonight. =/) I start worrying about the fact that im not gonna fall asleep and then it just makes it worse. i cant stop nomatter how much i try to relax.
Tonight.....I am up with severe pain from a mono induced sore throat. FML

 

Oh God, my mum is the exact same. She knows I have trouble sleeping because of it but she still doesn't care. It's so selfish.

 

This might seem a bit blunt but maybe some self-induced pleasure could help you fall asleep easier. Although I realise for some women it makes them more energetic rather than tired.

 

I listen to radio or podcasts to help me sleep. Before the holidays I used to set the sleep timer on my radio to 1 hour, and I'd always sleep before it turned off. I usually listen to politics, news, game podcasts and stuff like that, helps a treat, try it.

 

Yes. Seems to work well for men.
For me though, I seem to just suck all of the energy out- and then I can't go to sleep until hours and hours later. XD

I get anxiety in the daytime. Never at night, really.
I feel very calm and at peace at night. I don't sleep, very much- so most of my daily activity takes place at night.

 

Agree 100%. Because there's nothing to distract you, you mind wonders alot. It's a good thing a have a big tree right at my window. It's so soothing to watch the leaves move.

 

yes, why do some people not be able to selep, even when we arent anxious? pm me with ideas please, i cant figure out why i dont sleep