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Posted by Cairo on February 26, 2007 at 13:10:26:In Reply to: Self knowledge posted by echo tech on February 26, 2007 at 11:02:32:
Keep telling yourself that it will pass, because it will.
It's normal to have some sleepless nights. I had three nights last week where I just didn't sleep as well as I have been. I suspect that it's due to coming off of Lexapro, but who knows..
In the past, I would have panicked and thought, "oh no, it's coming back! What if I can't sleep again for a long time!! I hate this, it's not fair!" and I did have fleeting thoughts like that. But I believe what I preach, so I just reminded myself that it would pass. Maybe it would be one more night, maybe a week, maybe even two...but it would pass. And it did. Three nights.
The key is not to try to stop thoughts...that isn't necessarily possible. The key is to take the power away from the thoughts by exposing the distortions that lie within them. So if you have a negative thought, figure out how it is UNTRUE, and then repeat that to yourself, take the focus off the thought and back to what you were doing at the time...then repeat as necessary. If you have thoughts about insomnia that cause you to do deep breathing..then they are distorted.
Say your thought is: "oh my God, it's coming back! I can't stand this! What if I NEVER get better?? What if I lose my job?!" There are several distortions in this thought. If you can correct the distortions, you can then change the thought to something more like: "Well, this is frustrating, I had several good nights and now a bad one. Oh well, it's all part of the process (or so Cairo says :-) so I won't worry about it. I know I can get by on less sleep than I'd like, because I've done it off and on for 3 years now. This too shall pass." And then go back to your book, or your TV show, or your spouse or child, or whatever you were doing.
Does that make any sense?
- Re: Self knowledge insomniacagain 12:18 2/27/07 (1)
- Re: Self knowledge Cairo 15:59 2/27/07 (0)
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