Silent Room = Poor Sleep And Agitation?

[Deleted member 1860]

Hi,

I don't have a problem falling asleep in a silent room, but if I do, I'm bound to wake up agitated. I need to have a fan or tv on just for background noise. I have no idea why sleeping in a silent room makes me wake up agitated? Perhaps it's somehow related to my abuse---I'm not sure since it was when I was so young.

I realize this may be sort of odd, but I wonder if anyone else experiences something similar---not necessarily needing noise to fall asleep, but needing some sort of noise to ensure you wake up calm and rested!

Thanks.

 

[Court]

Solara my husband is this way he has combat ptsd. He even takes a fan with him on deployments and anywhere we go if we are staying over night.

I never thought to much of it until I read the post but if there is no fan( the tv annoys him) he has issues falling asleep, staying asleep so he is not fun to deal with in the morning. I now need a fan to soothe me I suppose and it somehow reminds me of him even now being on the outs.

Court

 

[maddog]

Absolutely! For me, it's more a matter of helping me come back to waking reality in a grounded state, as I tend to wake from nightmares a lot of the time and having some sort of familiar noise to penetrate into my consciousness straight away - a noise that is totally unrelated to anything from my trauma memories - is really important for helping me to wake calmly, or to calm as soon as possible when I do.

I always have a radio on when I sleep, playing dumb pop music on one of our commercial channels. I can't stand talkback or any other station that is likely to have people talking, as waking to the sound of talking voices is very triggering for me, but the pop music is intrusive and neutral enough to be reassuring and everyday normal.

Maddog

 

[Abstract]

I don't sleep well in silence at all. I both wake less rested and can't fall asleep in the first place. I am not sure what it is. I feel safer with some noise there and the lights on and sleep on the sofa in the living room but I'm not sure why. Part of it is also that it stops my mind from racing as much when trying to sleep.

If I don't fall asleep in the right frame of mind then I am guaranteed a horrible sleep and horrible awakening.

 

[BloomInWinter]

Due to my hyper-vigilant nervous system, every sound triggers my startle response. It's gotten better as I get better. But I still need some good white noise to dampen the effect of other noises.

 

[ASHR88]

Solara,

I have the same issue. I keep a fan on right next to my bed so that there is some sounds going on. For me, I think it had to do with hyper-vigilance. I am so hyper aware most of the time that the slightest sound has me waking up and thinking about which, in turn, makes me get up and do a perimeter check. I have to re-check the locks on doors and windows, check the closets and bathrooms. Then, I have to send some time calming down and relaxing before I try and get some sleep. So, I turn my fan on to drown out any small sound so I have a better chance of getting through more sleep before something wakes me up. If I don't have a fan, I barely sleep because I hear every house creak or I think I do. That's probably why you get much better sleep with it on. I don't listen to the radio mainly because if I wake up with a night terror, someone's voice and the singing/talking would just ratchet up my anxiety and it would take me longer to relax.

 

[Britt.f7]

It all depends on the night. I can go without, sometimes preferring silence over any noise. Other times I have to have some noise so I don't hear what goes creak in the night. I don't know if it makes me less or more agitated. I'll have to think of that.