Being "half" Asleep?

[Melody coates]

anyone experience this issue? when i sleep i feel like im not totally asleep. like part of my brain is still alert. kinda like when you start to doze off . its really fustrating because i think its part of the reason why i feel so sleepy during the day.

 

[Whitebird]

I've experiened it. And in the morning I feel really tired.

 

[Anarchy]

Lucid sleep is cool, it allows you to be in control in your dreams.

have you tried grounding yourself in the mornings - this is something that I was only made aware of a few days back (thanks whoever posted about it) - I might be waking up partly dissociated some days.

 

[Changing4Best]

I can relate to the state of being half asleep, but I do surpass that these days and also sometimes sleep deeply. I am a dozen years or so past my diagnosis and only need to see my therapist once a month to just be sure I'm still holding it pretty well together. I do go over minor problems in my life with her too, as she has great personal experiences to share about how she has overcome similar situations. My visits with her are enjoyable now. I do like that idea of grounding oneself upon waking. I think I shall do that. It sure can't hurt!

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

Yeah. I actually wrote more or less the same question a while ago: https://www.myptsd.com/threads/mind-in-sleep-mode.46043/
In the end I had it checked out with a doc and he said it probably was related to ptsd and to discuss it with my shrink, but I never did (am not in therapy right now).

I think it is important that you keep a check on whether you're getting enough water/food and physical exercise as well. In my experience, those really help. Taking natural supplements to get more energetic is also an option.

 

[Elsa23]

Yes. I have the exact same thing. It's bloody annoying, especially when you have a really busy day the following day and need to be alert .Hope some of the above suggestions work, I'm going to try some myself.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I call it twilight sleep and it's anything but cool. It doesn't allow me to control my dreams. Once I went an entire month on no real sleep and maybe an hour of twilight sleep a night if I was lucky. That was hell.

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

Oh I didn't read the question very well :) I thought it was during daytime. My apologies!
I can't really add any useful suggestions. I sleep like somebody beat me unconscious. I have the reverse issue during daytime. Hope you find a solution soon.

Could it help to take a sleep aid? Something that smooths over the nerves?
Doesn't have to be from the doc. There's natural sleep aid supplements too.

 

[Nam]

Certain meds (taken at the wrong time), caffeine, alcohol, and stress make it impossible to relax completely into sleep. Have you tried a long bed time routine? At least an hour before bed? No screens, light reading, meditation, hot shower, lotion/massage, brush teeth, listen to music, and then lights out. I had a huge, ritualistic routine for a while just to get at least a couple hours of good sleep. The mornings were tough because they were nightmare ridden, but somewhat livable if I got a few good hours. Trying to keep my fear of sleeping down was the key. If I was afraid to go to sleep, it sabotaged the first few hours of good sleep only to have nightmares in the morning. It might be completely different for you.

 

[Friday]

Waking sleep, catnaps, half asleep, resting my eyes, dozing... It's something one is trained to do in the military. Let's the body rest and knocks some of the more jagged edges off of sleep dep/prolongs the time before you go into full on sleep deprivation & psychosis (hallucinations, etc.). Delays the onset of the worst symptoms, but it's not fun. 3-6 weeks without at least a little real sleep is my own cap before I go completely looney toons. And then I crash hard. 2-3 days flat out. But if I'm sleeping myself out about once a week? Gone months and years this way.

When I'm in waking sleep I can still hear everything, and process it, that's going on around me. Can simply flick open my eyes and stand up / no intermediate period necessary. When I say process? Conversations, people moving around, etc. Have a mental image/map of my immediate surroundings. The more time I have stacked up doing this? The less accurate that map / dreams start intruding on reality.

In fact, when I start acting out my nightmares? I'm usually in this stage of semi-sleep. Like 2 images overlaid on top of each other: my minds eye and the real world. Can't tell what's real & what's not real. Haven't done that in a loooong time, in part because I've gotten used to what that "feels" like, but I've had a lot of problems this year of still dreaming while awake. Months of jacked sleep does that.

@Anarchy... Lucid dreaming is awesome!!! This isn't lucid dreaming, though. Before sleep dep kicks in its like the part of my mind that dreams is pointed towards and keeping tabs on reality while I sleep, and after sleep dep kicks in? There's none of the control. Dreams start taking over reality. So it's almost like the opposite. At least when things get bad. Waking sleep is useful in the short term, since you can be moving at a moments notice, and it's a lot more restful that light-sleep because you can choose to ignore all the myriad things which would otherwise startle you awake... But it's seriously crazy making in the long term.