When support shrinks in an instant - ideas for dealing with insomnia?

[Aloneinsomnia]

A few months ago, I had a pretty big support circle. Luckily, as my T points out, I still have strong ptsd support friends. However, I have trouble at night. My insomnia is at its usual high. I used to chat til I fell asleep. I no longer have that option, but I have learned some valuable lessons. Online is not really somewhere you can trust people. Attachment issues and transference are normal parts of ptsd that is a bit “complex.” Being triggered can sometimes cause reactions that are a bit intense and those reactions cause consequences. Luckily, my T (who gets the brunt of my Transference compared it to working with foster kids. She said that you know what you are getting into when you take the job, and you truly do care. When people act out, such as in an Email, and later come back to a session, there is understanding and then you work on the root cause. My problem here is... what do I do when my insomnia is like this. Ideas? (Chat is no longer an option) I really want to turn off this non-stop thoughts that swirl around in my head.

 

[Teasel]

You could perhaps try out as many different things as you can find out about to see what works for you - maybe google tips for dealing with insomnia, or try sleeping meds or try out guided meditations to aid sleep or try herbal teas - research about good sleep hygiene or check out these tips possibly too might be worth researching obsessive thinking - maybe CBT to help with that :)

 

[Friday]

What was it about chatting that worked? Clearly, it was a focusing distraction... so if you can pinpoint the areas that worked for you, it would probably help you find alternatives that hit the same buttons.

 

[Aloneinsomnia]

What was it about chatting that worked? Clearly, it was a focusing distraction... so if you can pinpoint...

I think that chat helped because I felt a sense of community present while I was trying to sleep. It helped turn off the obsessive thoughts. I usually take something to help out when I get to the extremes of those thoughts, but after a rough session or if I had a triggered response to something earlier in the day, even Xanax and/or melatonin does nothing... except when I have people to converse with. Just hard to find those people at 2:30 am without a chatroom, and chatrooms where I feel like I have established friendships are gone out of my life. Also, I think that this is seeming to be more of a challenge now because I’m a teacher and I have less things to wear down my excess energy with school out.

@berlinda, I will look up “obsessive thoughts,” thank you for the idea. I’ll bring up sleep with my T again as well. I think the schedule change since school ends is throwing me a bit, lately. My p-doc would probably want to change stuff up again if I talk to him but we lost our health insurance, so exploring drugs right now is not the best option. I did take magnesium, melatonin, trileptal, and drank hot tea last night. Not sure why I am up right now. I will try to sleep again.