Somniphobia
So this is both new and something I’m used to. Throughout my adolescence and high school years, I had no problem sleeping. In fact, I looked forward to it and slept as often as I could. I loved dreaming and everything. Then one day in college I spent a whole night writing a paper and on my way to school, I had a sudden panic attack while driving. My first ever one. Ever since then I always worried about getting enough sleep. Whenever I have a big day the next day, the night before is always a problem for me. I can never get myself to relax and sleep due to my intense anxiety. Over the years I’ve been able to manage it, but these past few months have been harder for some weird reason I can’t put my finger on. It’s like this paradox of fear, causing my fears to come true. Idk how to calm my anxiety without thinking the worst.
@mhyde1792
Sounds the panic attack experience makes super worried about not enough sleep. Thinking about the worst situation that may happen causes anxiety. People want to find out all scenarios and prevent them. But when the thought falls into automatic thinking, even the dramatic, non-real imagination will drag you into deep fear. A thought record is a good way to stop automatic thoughts. These involve challenging thinking, identifying types of anxious thoughts, and form alternative thoughts.
1. First, write down the statement. Get a closer look at how you think. For example, not enough sleeping brings me [tragedy scenarios].
2. Then, rationalized the thought. By challenging your thinking, you will found out if this specific thought is rational or not. For example, [tragedy scenarios] doesn't fir the facts.
3. Finally, replace the statements with positive statements. For example, I will be ok even I do have not enough sleep sometimes.
Welcome to let me know if this works for you.