Question
Hi im Jessica im 17 years old n im afraid to fall asleep. Im not sure if its a sleepin disorder but i really want to fix it. Im scared to fall asleep because im afraid of my dreams. I have terrible nightmeres of losing people i love or of me dying or simply of sad things. Iv always had a problem of worring to much. Im an expremly nerves person, im always biting my nails or a pen. I think of everything in any situation, good n bad so i take small risks. Not sleeping has cause many problems, sometimes i go a week with only 2 good hours of sleep. I dnt know what to do any more.
Answer
First of all the reason whey the dreams are happening more is because you are suffering from insomnia which we all get at one time or another in our lives, however you are a bit young. What happens when we lack sleep or even get too much is our brains and body are suppposed to wake up and go to sleep together but when our sleep gets messed up what happens is one or the other dont start up together so we are between awake and asleep and dreaming with our eyes open yet we are asleep dreams are so vivid and scary. You need to try these tips below. You should also seek the help of a therapist or school counselor to help with your anxiety,You may want to discuss this with your md, to give you some anti anxiety medicine, I also would show this to your parents. But try these tips below and feel free to email me again, Good luck.karel
Try these tips religiously for about 6-8 weeks but many have seen results
in as little as 2 weeks.lYou must go to bed and awaken the same time each day regardless
of how little or how much sleep you got the night before.
This starts to reset your sleep clock.
3 hours before bedtime stay away from
tea, coffee, caffeine, caramel colored soda like, coke,pepsi, ginger ale,
or root beer, chocolate and exercise .All these make for restless sleep.Do the following religiously for 4-6 weeks although some have seen changes in as little as 2 weeks.
Make sure room is quiet and dark. When you go to bed if you start to
twist and turn or if you wake up in the middle of the night and cant
go back to sleep, twist and turn for only 20 minutes, then get up, go
into a different room and read a book or magazine only! No computer!
When you start to doze immediately go back into the bedroom.This retrains
the brain into thinking that the bedroom is for restful sleep only. Do
this as many times as you awaken thru the night, it will lesson.
30 minutes before bedtime take a hot bath and immerse hands under the
water.Latest research states that the palms of the hand when immersed
in hot water send signals to the brain to relax. 15 minutes before bedtime\
drink a glass of warm milk. Milk when heated contains tryptophan, a natural
amino acid sleep inducer should do the trick. If this fails you should consider seeing a sleep center.
Your local hospital can refer you. Also go to sleepnet.com click on disorders insomnia
for more tips. Feel free to email again karel
