Do any of you get sleepy after therapy?

[Still Standing]

I am assuming this is dissociation of some type? For the second time, after therapy today, driving home became very difficult because I simply wanted to fall asleep, at the wheel. It was all I could do to get home. And once there, I took just enough time to get into the house, take off my coat before sitting in the recliner. There I promptly fell asleep for two hours...a really drugged-type of sleep. It is very difficult to wake from. Once awake, it feels like I was roaming around in a very lonely and depressed no-man's land for hours. And the overwhelming need to binge eat was thrown in for good measure. It is now midnight here and I am finally feeling OK. Do any of you react like this after a therapy session? Can it be controlled with grounding? I was too tired to even give that a try. These things are so odd and it is hard to know how to deal with them in light of PTSD and the counseling. This is a new manifestation and I do not like it.

 

[Teasel]

I commonly react like this after feeling intense emotion, it doesn't only happen in therapy. Have you felt like this before?

 

[Friday]

Yep. One of the nice things about the therapist I saw 5 hours away was the train ride home. Sleep the sleep of the dead to the rhythmic rock of the rails. Someone would have had to have blown it up to wake me. Some of the best sleep I got all month.

 

[Missycat]

Yea, i sometimes feel extremely tired and worn out . My partner would often go with me and then drive home as i was exhausted after some sessions. It was usually after a difficult session where i had been dissociating and working really hard to ground myself. T said this was the case and because i had worked so hard in session. Have you spoken to your t about it?

 

[Still Standing]

Bearlinda, This sleepy issue is new to me. It is scary having it happen while driving. I told the T about the first one and he said he thought we were pushing too hard in therapy. Today, the session seemed pretty sedate except the T had me stop and ground myself for a very short period. I did not leave upset. If this is going to be a repetitive thing, it makes me a bit concerned about driving there and back.

Friday, ...well, the sleep of the dead...hmmm, that pretty much describes the depth of sleep that takes over. Sadly, there is no train available for me to utilize. And perhaps that would be a good thing. I would hate to be known as the old lady sleeping with her mouth hanging open seen twice a week on the train. When you wake up do you walk around in a depressive void?

Yes, Missycat, I did tell the T about the first one, as I mentioned in my response to Bearlinda's post. I guess being so sleeping is not unusual. That is nice to know. I was concerned that it was a little odd. I thought the session today was a pretty easy one, so the drugged-like sleepiness threw me.

 

[Suzetig]

For me it’s not about dissociation, it’s entureky about the depth and challenge of the work - I often feel completely worn out and will usually plan a very easy rest of day where at all possible. I’m not sure that grounding will help tbh, your T may be right about just slowing things down a bit.

 

[CelticHarp]

Yes, I crawl into bed after therapy. I make sure to pull the covers over my head to hide.

 

[Still Standing]

Thanks for sharing, everyone. It is comforting to know that getting so sleepy :sleep: after therapy is not unusual. For me, the experience is new and strange. BTW CelticHarp, I also sleep with the covers over my head, with only my nose sticking out for fresh air. And "the parts" stuff is new information, too. Not sure that applies to me but I guess this therapy journey will be the avenue used if it is to be diagnosed. At this point, I think that the sleepiness might be more in the character of what Suzetig shared, in that it is exhaustion from the energy put into work done in session...at least that is what I am going to put my money on. :) I will not worry about this now. Apparently, it comes with the territory when in therapy.

 

[MyWillow]

My T often won't let me drive for at least an hour...go for a walk, have a coffee, sleep in my car, listen to a grounding podcast... last session I had to sit down whilst we booked the next appointments. Definitely a dissociation thing. I always plan a free day so I can go to bed for as long as I need to.

 

[Freida]

yepper -- and the entire next day after EMDR

 

[Rumors]

Yes, as I started to really work on some hard stuff it started wiping me out afterwards. After emdr it takes about 2 days for me to fully recover. I feel like I have been run over by a bus actually. I try and practice good self care afterwards. I don't necessarily take the day off, but I try not to schedule appointments where I have to see or talk to a lot of people and I don't set up big money deals afterwards. I think part of it is a vulnerability hangover honestly. Take good care!

 

[MyWillow]

Monday night I had a bizarre "dream" (aka scene) that left me feeling rather dissociated. Tuesday morning I pulled myself together to deliver a lecture to a bunch of Masters students then went straight to see a University counsellor to seek some support resources in that environment. It totally threw me having to explain my situation to a new psychologist in 30 minutes. Fortunately she was very good and contained the session really well although I think I did dissociate just a little. I've pretty much slept for the last day and a half with interruptions for Pilates and dog training (both self care) and a bit of computer work (necessary). This $h!t is exhausting.