lostforgottensoul
VIP Member
Then why try to label it? I'm not sure what good it does. The issues are still there, label or not. I see a lot of disordered sleeping. Example: I sleep walk. I have extremely vivid dreams. I have night terrors. I have very active sleep where I have hurt myself in my sleep. I wake up running, fighting the air or pillow, throwing things and have hit a nurse in the hospital once that was trying to take my vitals without waking me. I've been up, walking around, eyes open, and talking to people looking completely awake but actually be sleeping and dreaming. I do have an impossible time going to sleep and rarely stay asleep for longer then a hour or so. I must take medications or I fear I'd be up for days. The fear and anxiety is overwhelming at night. Even with medications it takes me hours to fall asleep and still wake up often. I also sleep during the day without the ability to stop myself from falling asleep. I often compare it to a herion addict as the falling asleep sitting up, head in lap, is nearly the same.
I do have insomnia (trouble falling and staying asleep) but I also have other sleeping disorders. My MD has been wanting me to get a sleep study done for the longest time. I identify the most with narcolepsy which is the REM stage of sleep (where you dream) is not placed correctly. Usually someone enters into REM sleep after a few hours (if I am remembering correctly). I enter into REM sleep and will start dreaming immediately. I can be asleep for less then a minute and be dreaming. I start dreaming immediately and many times before I am fully asleep. So there are other things, in addition to insomnia, that's going on. I haven't gotten that sleep study done so I dont advise people I have any sleeping disorder even though my MD is convinced I have at least sleep apnea. Even though I have a very hard time falling and staying asleep I don't label that insomnia either. I say I have a large array of sleeping distrubances and issues and work on them one at a time...with my therapist since I believe a large part of it is caused by trauma. The fear, panic, and anxiety at night is as is the nightmares, night terrors, hurting myself in my sleep, and waking up running, fighting, and hitting. I would also say even the sleep walking could be trauma related. So I work on each individually and then those things I can't work on such as the misplaced REM sleep I will need to get the sleep study done to rule in or out a sleeping disorder.
But, my entire point. If you struggle with a label, don't label it and just work on each issue individually.
