Insomnia Forum Posting

Posted by Tom-N-Texas on May 19, 2005 at 06:37:46:

Well this is a post that is in reply to zzz's post under "Sleep Therapy Group." I think this was a really good post. (As was Tomwith2cats' post) But in the spirit of continuing a great discussion, I'm going to take issue with what zzz said towards the end of his post. He said this:

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I would suggest, if you return to your "old self", the one that led you to insomnia in the first place, how will you expect to get yourself straightened out?"
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This is, I believe, the crux of where we differ in our philosophies. See, I don't believe that your physical actions (or inactions) led to your insomnia in the first place. Your body didn't suddenly decide it was no longer going to sleep because you were going to bed too early. Or because you had a coke. Or because you weren't writing your progress down. Most likely, Your body found sleep elusive initially because your emotions were overloaded. Later on, you LEARNED how to be a good insomniac by feeding it with regular doses of fear and confusion, but initially it was probably an emotional thing brought on by life's hectic circumstances.

Let me switch gears just a bit. Medically it's the same way. I think the medical society has things all wrong. When you have a headache, is the human body lacking Acetaminophen? No. When someone has cancer is their body lacking chemotherapy or radiation? Definately No. When someone has high cholesterol is their body lacking statin drugs? Is depression a sign that your body thirsting for SRSI's? Hardly. When you suddenly stop sleeping is that a sign that's your lacking Valerian, or Melatonin, or Ambien, or Tylenol PM? Or likewise, does that mean you've recently made the silly mistake of going to bed too early? Or you've failed to keep an accurate journal? Or you've forgoten to take a bath? Or you kept the lights on too bright in the evening?

Now I'm not going to sit here and say that NOTHING ever has an impact on your sleep. It does. Sleep varies from one night to the next. Sometimes your nightly activities might have an impact one way or another. For instance if you drink a 12-pack of beer, that would probably change things up a bit. As would fighting with your wife. But in general, (In my opinion) all the little stuff is basically inconsequential.

I think most insomniacs (including myself) make things much worse on themselves by overdoing the thinking and planning of their recovery. In my own experience, It's very DIFFICULT to make things better. However it's quite EASY to make things worse. Eventually I learned to just stop trying to influence my sleep. Because everytime I tried making things better, things got worse.

It may sound silly and simplistic and maybe ridiculous to some, but I believe the best way to cure yourself is just to be yourself, let things ride, and think positive things about the future...because with this attitude, your insomnia will probably soon pass.

Good luck everyone. Tom

Follow Ups:

• Re: Returning to your old self tomwith2cats 09:38 5/19/05 (0)
• Re: Returning to your old self looking for zzz 07:52 5/19/05 (2)
  • Re: Returning to your old self mary 09:38 5/19/05 (0)
  • Re: Returning to your old self Tom-N-Texas 08:01 5/19/05 (0)
• Re: Returning to your old self DCTom 07:15 5/19/05 (0)

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