• We are a multilingual website again. Read the notice about this.
  • Understand AI use at MyPTSD: all AI use is explained in our AI help page. AI use is by choice here. It exists if you want it, but does nothing unless you choose to use it.

Waking Up With Trauma Shock

Status
Not open for further replies.

LifeCutShort

Bronze Member
Greetings fellow PTSD sufferers, is there a technical term for not having consistent sleep, but constantly waking up early with fear, anxiety and shock of your trauma? I keep waking every couple of hours and the cycle repeats its self, making it impossible to get a good nights sleep. I often sleep during the day due to my sleep problems. Something very bad happened to me, destroying my chance of having a life, and I keep waking up with the intensity and shock of the trauma. I feel like my trauma is so ingrained and scarred into my mind, that even when I am asleep and unconscious, I am still experiencing the overwhelming emotional pain of my trauma, and I awake. I have no escape. My entire existence is 'owned' by this problem. I wish I had a normal life, but my life is 'sabotaged' by this. Please share with me any similarities you may have experienced.
 
I am the same way. Never really get much sleep. The past few weeks I have been having waking nightmares/ sleep paralysis. It is extremely frustrated.
 
Sure. Insomnia, nightmares, disrupted sleep, etc.

If you sleep well in the daytime? Consider night work. My favorite shift is from 10pm-7am. I put zeh kiddo to bed, hand off to the babysitter (only $20 a night, instead of $15 per hour since it's sleeping not waking hours), go to work, come home, make breakfast & take zeh kiddo to school. Sleep while he's in school, pick him up, and get to spend the whole afternoon & evening with him.
 
@FridayJones You have the capacity to work? Wow! I am so sick I stare at the wall all day and night. My PTSD progressively led to a nervous breakdown where I am contemplating on living in a mental hospital for the rest of my life so I can sleep all day.
 
@LifeCutShort
As long as you are living and breathing it is never too late to turn things around. I think @FridayJones is an awesome example of someone who found something that works for her and digs down to find the strength to continue moving forward. Just know that there are lots of people along the way that will help you find your way back to feeling productive and healthier.
My sleep is disturbed at times too. I wake up, jump out of bed and start running down the hall until I realize that there isn't anything to run from. It has gotten better the longer I have taken medication and the further in to therapy I have gotten. I have really, REALLY had to work on sleep issues bc much like you, it leaves me feeling very scared, vulnerable, and full of anxiety. If you can find something that you can do to pass time and feel productive you may start to remember happiness. Although traumas turn our lives upside down, they don't have to rule them forever. However, you have to make a conscience decision to do whatever it takes to change things no matter how hard it gets. It is a 2 steps forward and 10 steps backward kind of thing. Whatever has happened, and I am sure it is awful and scary, you can beat it... Hope you can rest some and find a more peaceful place.
 
is there a technical term for not having consistent sleep, but constantly waking up early with fear, Link Removed and shock of your trauma?
Yes. I think the technical term for it is 'hell'. I so remember those days. They absolutely can resolve. Do you have a therapist? You need tools to help you through.

contemplating on living in a mental hospital for the rest of my life so I can sleep all day.
It may feel like life is over but it is not. Time and tools heal. Try to get out of your head that this is 'forever'. Work on sleep deprivation first. It messes with your head more than the PTSD does. Have you some form of anti-anxiety meds? I would get those first to help you sleep.
 
LIFECUTSHORT: I haven't gotten a decent and restful night's sleep in about 15 years. Every single night, I have nightmares -- sometimes more horrible than the actual traumas I've suffered. Alternately, there are nights I can't even sleep at all (even with medication) because of the dreams' intensity the previous night. It's just another painful ramification of PTSD, and all too often, those are even worse than the disorder itself.
 
@FridayJones You have the capacity to work? //. My PTSD progressively led to a nervous breakdown where I am contemplating on living in a mental hospital for the rest of my life so I can sleep all day.

Most of the time, yes.

Since I was diagnosed in 97/98 I haven't worked maybe 4 of those years? About that. Including the last 2. The other 2 were in pieces spaced out over about 5 years.

I've also spent a fairly significant period of time homeless, although much of my time homeless I was also working. 6 months is pretty much my hard limit for laying on a beach staring at nothing, though. More typically I'd spent 6 or 8 weeks sleeping on the beach, gradually get bored and start surfing for a few weeks, then pick up a job for 6-12-24 weeks, and then go back to sleeping on the beach for until that got boring. For myself, boredom is more of a motivator than privation.

I've almost never worked a standard M-F 9-5 type job. I tend to do best in 24/7 type jobs. Paramilitary, disaster response, child raising, etc. Failing that, I've worked for myself in a number of capacities. Before kids, working for myself, I fell into my favorite sleep schedule (36 up 12 down). There was simply no reason to confine myself to other people's schedules, and that worked out fantastic for me. Post kids, I do have to work around other people's schedules... And I sleep better in the daytime, than at night. So my favorite shift is as outlined above. During the toddler years, and homeschooling, I was mostly in school. Ended up paying better than working and paying for daycare. Shrug. Those were also during my 10 really good years. Still had symptoms, but mostly manageable.

I can generally improvise and adapt my way into something meaningful and productive. Not always. But most of the time, yes.



// Splice made by me to avoid quoting the whole thing
 
Last edited:
I had a sleep study done and was given meds to help.

I will say I LOVE YOUR PROFILE PICTURE!!!! It speaks to me in ways I cannot even explain. I feel healing when I look at it.
 
I'm sorry you're dealing with that every day! I would venture to say that a significant fraction if PTSD sufferers have had the same issue for chunks of time, but it can and will improve over time with therapy, self-help, and lots of trial-and-error.
 
Greetings fellow PTSD sufferers, is there a technical term for not having consistent sleep, but con...
I have PTSD for 12 years now, from physical and mental abuse from my birth family. I suffer from true nightmares , vet up shake , sweat cry and run down the stairs when I finally can move. It help to go to yoga, reki, and a PTSD therapist it has helped alot. But its within me years and year if abuse, with no one standing by my side. It's like having to take care your self, like diabetes, asthma. Doing what you have to do , to live a near almost normal life. My heart goes out to all of you. It's a horrible disorder to live with, but there is help.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Donation drives

2026 Donation Goal

Goal
$1,800.00
Earned
$910.00
This donation drive ends in
0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds
  50.6%

Trending content

Featured content

Back
Top Bottom