Defining insomnia?

[theshadowoftheliving]

What makes insomnia insomnia?

My therapist suggested that I have this, but I'm having trouble seeing my struggles as such. So, here goes ... would you call this insomnia?

I tend to stay up until I am exhausted to delirium, as I fear the laying down/trying to sleep moments. This means that I'm almost always out the minute I hit the pillow.

But I wake up often. Sometimes thoughts (I have DID) startle me awake - the most recent, ironically, the thought that being awake like this might actually be insomnia. I also have nightmares from the moment I fall asleep until I wake up, so my sleep often feels unrestful. Even a five minute nap on the train results in nightmares.

I also sometimes wake up in absolute panic, tied to nothing I am aware of. Or, noises (like the heater) will startle me into panicked alertness.

But then other times, I snooze my alarm for hours and hours.

What it going on? I'm feeling super confused about what this is all about.

 

[Abstract]

Yours sounds a whole lot like mine. Or mine in certain phases.. Except I am happy to say I have way less nightmares these days. Yes, I think this counts as insomnia. What do you think insomnia consists of?

 

[EveHarrington]

It sounds like you have a very black/white view of insomnia.

Nothing in this world is black/white.

Insomnia has many forms. It’s not just a matter of never sleeping.

 

[theshadowoftheliving]

Insomnia and what I think? I don't know. That's why I'm asking. I think I only know about the typical Hollywood-version - laying awake all night, watching the clock.

That isn't me. I know my body sleeps at night, but I don't know if my brain does all the time.

I also don't move at all when I sleep. Nightmares and nightmares and nightmares. I wake up drenched in sweat, bit in the same exact position I fall asleep in, covers not even wrinkled. Not sure what to do with that.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

What makes insomnia insomnia?

Difficulty falling and staying asleep.

What is Insomnia?

Seems pretty black and white to me but that's just me. There are sleeping disorders and disordered sleeping, sleeping habits, and sleeping patterns and none of that is black and white. But insomnia is pretty straight foward in my view.

 

[EveHarrington]

Difficulty falling and staying asleep.

I meant black/white in that either you sleep and you don’t have insomnia or you don’t sleep at all and you have insomnia.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

you sleep and you don’t have insomnia or you don’t sleep at all and you have insomnia.

Ah! I all that ignornace of the brain. Lol. The brain must rest or the brain will die. Literally.

In the case of rats, however, continuous sleep deprivation for about two weeks or more inevitably caused death in experiments conducted in Allan Rechtschaffens sleep laboratory at the University of Chicago.

How Long Can Humans Stay Awake?

So, sleep can be held off but sleep will eventually be forced. Maybe one thinks not sleeping much or not sleeping for a day or two as insomnia, and it is, but it is more difficulity falling and staying sleep and that is what most sufferer when suffering from insomnia.

 

[Scarlet13]

Insomnia could mean the inability to stay asleep, so maybe you have it a little bit.

It sounds to me like you may have intermittent insomnia at worst and most likely just poor sleep at times that fluctuates into good sleep.

Insomnia really can mean NOT sleeping at all, the classic laying awake staring at the clock.
You can feel desperate, to wear it is not a matter of trying to define insomnia.

I think the anxiety around sleep can create insomnia.
It would help maybe to know that you actually sleep more than what you think you do.
Also, it sounds like your sleep issues are coming from trauma symptoms.
Insomnia can be its own thing like having too high of cortisol at night.
Insomnia could arise out of these issues though and become a separate thing.
Have you looked into these things:
Epsom salt baths at night
Oat straw tea (steeped all day)
Magnesium glycinate
Heating pad
White noise
Being read to before bed or listening to a book on tape

 

[Freida]

insomnia also messes with the REM cylce part of sleep (where most of us enjoy our fun filled nightmares - ugh) But without REM you aren't getting the recovery your brain needs. "normal" sleep is 7 to 9 hours, with variations of type of sleep -- light, rem, deep blah blah.

I got all this crapola when I went thru a sleep program for chronic insomnia. You might check with your doctor on that because it was a game changer for me. Sleep doc told me that the purpose of the program was to reteach my brain how to sleep correctly because it was all out of whack. It's kind of a pain in the butt to do, but the results are way worth it. I still have it occasionally, but my approach is different so it doesn't effect me as badly and weirdly as I got more sleep I had fewer nightmares.

 

[Friday]

I tend to stay up until I am exhausted to delirium,

Boom. Right there. All the rest is just icing on the cake.

Want to sleep but can’t, need to sleep but afraid to, can’t stay asleep, whole lot of pieces that can go into insomnia, from a helluva lot of different sources.

If you need a quick rule of thumb:

Insomnia ( - ) Not sleeping normally
Hypersomnia ( + ) Not sleeping normally

 

[theshadowoftheliving]

Maybe one thinks not sleeping much or not sleeping for a day or two as insomnia, and it is, but it is more difficulity falling and staying sleep and that is what most sufferer when suffering from insomnia.

This - whatever it is - has been going on my whole life. So, maybe I have insomnia or not, but I also know that for me, this is normal (even if it isn't for other people). So, I'm having so much trouble as labelling it other than normal.

Also, it sounds like your sleep issues are coming from trauma symptoms.

Yes, for sure. I think the question is more about identifying specific problems in order to target interventions ....

Boom. Right there. All the rest is just icing on the cake.

Meaning that this is insomnia?

 

[Sideways]

Insomnia - you have trouble falling asleep in a natural way at a natural time.

There’s looads of things that cause insomnia. In your case, it’s the fear of that time when you’re lying there trying to get to sleep. Unusual cause maybe, but the outcome is the same: difficulty getting to sleep in a natural and healthy way.

Insomnia can mean different things. So it could be difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, getting back to sleep when you wake up, waking too early, and on and on.

I think maybe where you’re getting stuck is the Hollywood cliche: the person who is lying in bed tossing and turning for hours and pulling their hair out with “WHY can’t I sleep!?!?!” But it presents in lots of different ways. And at its essence, insomnia is about “not getting healthy sleep in a healthy way”.

And you aren’t. You have a fear (cause) which is keeping you awake until you’re physically unable to keep the eyelids pried open (result...insomnia).