Posted by i_will_sleep_again on November 26, 2008 at 20:19:58:

In Reply to: Re: recovered insomniacs pls help me!! posted by newmom08 on November 26, 2008 at 19:50:02:

Newmom08,

Eventually you will learn that you will be able to function just fine with little or no sleep, and once that realization actually sinks in, you will be able to deal with this better.

It's a little bit of circular logic though, wondering if CBT can help you to not feel anxious, because part of CBT IS trying to not feel anxious. So if you truly are practising CBT, it means by definition you are not feeling anxious (or trying your best not to in any case).

Often, I see some posts from people who say they are frustrated that CBT is not helping them, and still talk about their fears of sleeping. Unfortunately that means they aren't really practicing CBT (or the C of CBT to be precise). They get frustrated because the behavioral part is not yielding results, but the cognitive part is more important to master.

Listen, don't worry about not having inner strength. We all have inner strength, whatever we think. You are waaaaay more stronger than you think. I used to think of myself just like this too, that I don't have the inner strength needed to recover like other people have, but to my amazement I found out that I did. And everyone does. You can bring it out by realizing that sleep isn't going to stop you from doing ANYTHING. Everything you were doing before insomnia, you can do now (well maybe not having 5 beers just before bed and things like that :)).

Here is a little trick that helped me, as I've said in a post before. Every evening, when you start feeling anxious, tell yourself that your goal is not to sleep, but to lie in bed with your body relaxed and eyes closed. That's good enough! And you can do that! That's it. If you spent the whole night awake, but relaxed mentally without tossing and turning, consider that night a success! Once you take the pressure off sleeping, funnily enough, sleep comes back to you. Really try this for a month and tell me if you don't see any change. Do not try to sleep. You can't force yourself to sleep. Just measure your progress by this yardstick - did I stay relaxed mentally the whole night or not? Being asleep or being awake with eyes closed doesn't matter.

Good luck!
-Sam

Follow Ups:

• Re: recovered insomniacs pls help me!! kikibikini 20:50 12/06/08 (0)

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