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Posted by Cairo on February 14, 2006 at 05:27:02:In Reply to: Re: Note to Tom-N-Texas posted by Tom-N-Texas on February 13, 2006 at 19:50:56:
I think a big difference is that many of the people on this board who have an onset problem seem to then develop a fear of going to bed, a fear of not sleeping that exacerbates their difficulties. I never had a fear of not falling asleep initially because that wasn't where the problem lies for me. That seems to be the area in which you experienced anxiety.
I have always been a worrier, and I think that after 40 years of that, my brain was so hyper-aroused that it couldn't achieve deep sleep and woke me up after a few hours. Plus I had a stressful job and a negative relationship that kept my mind churning out the worried, stressful thoughts. On top of that, I started to worry that my inability to get enough sleep would result in catastrophe. So it all piled up.
There are many forms of anxiety, I think that's what's confusing. I don't doubt that there are other issues that can cause sleep maintenance problems, but I think that many people here who claim not to be anxious at all, are actually worriers, and don't define that as anxiety. Because they don't have a particular anxiety in mind when they get in bed, they say they aren't anxious. But their underlying style of worrying constantly in the back of their mind (like I do) has led to sleep problems.
I think depression and anxiety probably have similar effects on the brain, in terms of changing the chemistry that allows natural functioning. And both have been shown to respond quite well to CBT. I also take an antidepressant (Remeron) to help with sleep, though I am quite sure I was not depressed, as I had no symptoms of it other than insomnia. It doesn't sedate me, yet it helps me sleep, so there must be some similar chemical issues. And I do feel that it helps, probably both psychologically and physiologically.
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