Panic attacks at night in sleep

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Throughout life, every person experiences different feelings and emotions. One of their forms is fear. Forms of fear can be natural or contrived. If the first type is considered natural, then the second is associated with mental disorders. Each of them has its own name, but the most unpleasant is considered to be clinophobia - fear of sleep. Fortunately, this phobia is almost always curable.

Mental reactions

Fear is an emotion that arises when an imaginary or real danger appears. This danger causes a state uncharacteristic for a person, leading to an outburst of feelings, and forces the individual to mobilize all his strength to avoid danger. In other words, fear is the body’s defensive reaction to a stressful situation.

Natural fear is inherent in nature , it works at the level of instincts and experience acquired over life. Even a child is born with so-called fear hormones. A newborn baby exhibits instinctive forms of defense when loud sounds occur or an object approaches unexpectedly. At the same time, the baby begins to show anxiety: suddenly freeze, throw up his arms, cry. This reaction is considered normal and even necessary.

But if anxiety arises in a situation that is conditionally safe, then this is already considered an anxiety disorder, that is, a painful mental state.

Don't be afraid of bad dreams

• 25.10.2012
• Portal TarotTaro
• comments: 0

Many people have no idea that an unpleasant dream can promise success in real life! Bad dreams often haunt people, and they think about nightmares all day, analyze what they dreamed, mentally prepare for possible troubles, etc. But you shouldn’t do all this, because often scary dreams become harbingers of good events! Dreams are a window into the human subconscious. But, in most cases, the plots again cannot be projected into reality one to one. For example, if you dreamed of a puppy, this does not mean at all that the next day you will go and buy yourself a dog. The situation is similar with bad dreams. Scary scenes and pictures in a dream can become a sign of well-being in life. Dream about a quarrel with a loved one You shouldn’t worry too much about this at all. If you dream of a scandal with your lover, it is possible that you are even breaking up or getting divorced, or that he yelled at you or hit you. Any manifestation of aggression in a dream is not a reason for offense, believe me. Such dreams prophesy the successful development of relationships. Remember that in this case you can always count on his full support. In a dream, does your husband leave you? This is a symbol of career growth or receiving significant money. If you dreamed of a stranger as your spouse, get ready for a long journey or trip. A dream in which you cheated on your husband is a sign of a fun time. Nightmares involving your mother-in-law become harbingers of a wedding or other similar event. Dream about money problems Such dreams symbolize imminent large and serious purchases. If in a dream you spend a lot of money, then in reality you will earn even more. When you dream that there is not a penny in your wallet, get ready for financial prosperity! If you lose money in a dream, then in life you will win the lottery or receive an inheritance. Were you robbed in a dream? Invest in business - it will definitely bring big profits. If in a dream you steal money, then do not worry about your marriage - it is stronger than ever. Dream about illness If you dream about illness, then you definitely don’t have to go to the doctor in the near future - such dreams have nothing to do with deteriorating health. Such dreams bring hope, good news and emotions. Do you dream of blood on your hands? This is a fairly good sign that symbolizes recovery. If after such a dream you buy a lottery ticket, you can win a tidy sum. If you dream of a doctor or a nurse, it means that long-standing desires will come true. If you dreamed that your teeth hurt or were completely falling out, you have good and loyal friends. A headache in a dream means solving complex issues; a sore throat portends success in business. If you dream of a dying state, then this is for love and good relationships. A dream about troubles at work Such dreams promise career growth and good luck in relations with your superiors. If you dreamed of disagreements with colleagues, then in life you will be able to develop and implement a serious project. Scandals with the boss are harbingers of encouragement from management. If in a dream you cannot cope with the assigned tasks at work, then in life you will definitely be praised for your efficiency and hard work. In addition: • If you dream of garbage, then this is a fulfillment of desires; • If in a dream you cannot cope with children, then soon they will delight you with their successes; • If you dream about how the elements destroy your home, then you need to prepare for the arrival of guests.

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The emergence of fear

The occurrence of fear of sleep can have varying degrees of severity. Some people are more susceptible to it, some less. Research shows that this disease can be either congenital or acquired during life. In this case, the phobia may be in remission or gradually develop.

The most common factors in which the risk of fear is very high are the following :

1. Parental influence. Scientists say that anxious parents who exhibit a tendency toward fear unconsciously plant information in the child’s mind. The degree of fear also increases during the process of upbringing, when the child is frightened by various situations that arise in the dark. For example, telling a child that in a dream he is practically powerless, and then reading him a horror story, the possibility of danger will probably be deposited in his mind. The desire to control the environment will lead to suspicion and suspiciousness. As a result, an anxious personality will grow up. And if during the course of life a stressful situation associated with sleep appears, for example, the death of someone in bed, then the probability of a phobia tends to almost one hundred percent.
2. Anxious environment. This case is very close in nature to the previous factor, but at the same time the surrounding society has a negative impact on the psyche. The people with whom constant communication occurs have a huge influence on the formation of a person’s attitudes towards various objects or situations. Most often, the instillation of fear occurs in an unobtrusive form. The person who forms a phobia to another does not even suspect it himself, but over time his fears will certainly be transferred to the receptive side.
3. Diffidence. A person who feels hostility and internal uncertainty very often finds himself in stressful situations. She begins to experience fear of ordinary actions, expecting trouble to arise. Usually such people have a developed imagination.
4. Anchoring mechanism. The appearance of a phobia in this case depends on the acquired associations. Someone was bitten by a dog or a plane crashed somewhere - the person acquired a fear of dogs and flying. Another thing is that dogs rarely bite, and planes crash even less often, but a person develops a pathological fear at the sight of a dog or the need to fly on a plane. It’s the same with sleep: having learned that there is such a variety as lethargic, a person simply begins to be afraid to fall asleep.

Thus, the reason for the appearance of a phobia can be either hidden or obvious . The first is a cumulative kind, it is a fear that originates in childhood. Thanks to excessive parental care, psychological trauma and morally insoluble conflicts, a feeling of uselessness, depression, a feeling of constant threat, and obsessive obsession arise. The second reason is associated with severe stress, from which it is not possible to fully recover.

Causes of phobia

In ancient times, when people lived in small groups or tribes, the fear of falling asleep was justified by safety measures. After all, during a night's rest, they could be attacked by other tribes or predatory animals.

A modern person, safe at home, would seem to have nothing to fear. But still, some people have a panicky fear of sleep, which can be provoked by various factors:

• The most common cause of a phobia, called “fear of falling asleep,” is the sudden death in a dream of someone you know or a relative. Such a person may be afraid of dying during a night's rest, and he may also have a fear of falling into a lethargic state and being buried alive.
• If the patient has a history of heart disease (cardiac arrhythmia, previous myocardial infarction, cardiac ischemia and other diseases of the cardiovascular system). Such patients are afraid to fall asleep, which worsens their condition.
• Fear of falling asleep is often experienced by patients who suffer from night snoring with respiratory arrest, especially if they have heard about the dangers of apnea.
• Frequent nightmares can provoke a fear of sleep.
• Children, especially younger ones, are highly susceptible to hypnophobia. Children have a very mobile psyche, they are emotional and more sensitive to information coming from outside than adults. One glance at a scary picture or a still from a horror movie is enough, and the child acquires a phobia, which is sometimes very difficult to get rid of.
• Sometimes the fear of falling asleep appears in children who suffer from enuresis, especially if they were punished for it. Also, the fear of falling asleep may appear if there have been cases of ridicule from others about this.

• Cinema products, which are replete with mystical and scary scenes, can also influence impressionable adults and cause fear of falling asleep. Women are especially easily influenced. You can sometimes hear the following words from them: “I’m afraid to sleep in the dark.” Women fear that when their body falls asleep, they will not be able to control their surroundings and will miss the appearance of monsters or ghosts.

Symptoms and diagnosis

With any fear, symptoms arise that affect the general physiological state of a person. The symptoms of the disease include not only the physical condition, but also the mental one. As a rule, clinophobes begin to experience discomfort even when talking about sleep or thinking about it. The state of being afraid to go to bed is classified as anxiety neurosis. First of all, it is characterized by a feeling of increased general anxiety associated with the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.

The main symptoms accompanying the disease are:

• the occurrence of shortness of breath;
• various types of spasms;
• feeling of weakness;
• numbness;
• dizziness and nausea;
• lethargy;
• increased sweating;
• rapid heartbeat;
• shiver.

When people mention sleep, they experience feelings of panic, fear, and anxiety.

Symptoms become more common as the disease progresses. And this is understandable, since disruption of sleep patterns leads to negative consequences, causing states of absent-mindedness, forgetfulness, chronic fatigue and even aggression.

The symptoms that arise depend on the physical and psycho-emotional state of the clinophobe. But in any case, a person who is afraid of sleep experiences great nervous tension, which can worsen so much that it will lead to irreparable psychological trauma or even death.

Diagnosis of incipient clinophobia usually does not cause problems for a specialist. A psychologist, based on an assessment of the patient’s reaction and behavior in a given situation, can easily recognize such a phobia. It also happens that present fear is a manifestation of a deeper problem, for example, schizophrenia.

For proper treatment, the doctor must determine the cause of the psychological disorder. Depending on whether it is caused by tragic events (disaster, fire) or is the result of prolonged depression and neurosis, therapy is prescribed. To independently assess the level of phobias, the ZARS scale is used. Developed by William Zang, it allows you to assess your anxiety by simply calculating your scores for answering twenty statements.

Fear that I won't sleep at night.

Hello.

I’ll go straight to the answers to the questions at the end of the letter:

1) In general, the body performs many functions independently, without our intervention. The first of these “independent”: breathing and sleep. Having started to think about them, we seem to interfere with their natural course and, wanting to help them, on the contrary, we disrupt their natural course, becoming like a centipede, which one day wondered how it could walk like that with all its legs and fell.

Therefore, prolonged stress could certainly affect sleep, but from your letter one gets the feeling that it was not stress that had an effect, but your attention, which you so intensely paid to the topic of sleep.

The best way to deal with the topic of sleep now is to REMOVE IMPORTANCE from the question of whether you can fall asleep.

There are diseases in which sleep must be adjusted with medications.

In your case there is no need to take serious measures. In general, reading your letter, I see that you are replacing something else in your life with anxiety. Perhaps self-attention, care and maybe even communication. It is not clear from the letter whether you have enough communication, whether you take care of your body through sports, or whether you give enough exercise. If this is really not the case, it makes sense to start “strengthening” the body and nervous system with small but constant physical exercises. If there is no exercise at all, it is more gentle for the body to start with daily walks (10,000 steps per day) and gradually add more load on all types of muscles. See if you start falling asleep faster after exercising.

Although, as I wrote above, it is better to remove the importance from the topic of sleep. “Get behind” your sleep. Fall asleep not when you're supposed to, but when your body asks.

If you still want to pay attention to sleep, pay attention not specifically to sleep, but to creating conditions for sleep: shower before bed; an hour, or better yet 2 hours before bedtime, do not use the phone, TV, or computer; ventilation of the room; if you can really organize it, massage. If you wish, you can find many ways to relax. Just do this not with the goal of falling asleep, but with the goal of creating a pleasant, cozy atmosphere.

Perhaps the situation is really deeper and the reason is deep fear, which was previously repressed from consciousness (maybe deep in childhood), and now the time has come to face it. Then methods such as “surrendering” to your fear help. Admit to myself that I can’t sleep and don’t know what to do about it. That is, don’t fight and don’t make efforts. If you have enough internal resource to say this to yourself and not analyze it, you can see what will happen next: perhaps you will understand what is really behind your fear of not falling asleep, perhaps memories will surface when something like this has already happened to you.

Consciousness manifests itself in a very interesting way when we remove the pressure and allow ourselves to be who we are now without trying to change or analyze.

In general, I can tell you good news: neurosis (repetitive thoughts, movements or actions) is not a serious mental disorder. More like a signal of overvoltage. And it goes away when the situation normalizes. Therefore, if you help yourself through the body and creating a comfortable, cozy atmosphere at home, you will feel better soon enough.

If anxiety and fear of not falling asleep recur, ask yourself: “So what? What will happen if I don’t sleep?”

By the way, Viktor Frankl offers a very interesting experience of working with fears in his book Logotherapy. He successfully worked with the topic of both adult and children's fears. I have a favorite phrase from Viktor Frankl that in any mental state, even the most difficult, there is a part of the personality that will NEVER be destroyed.

Therefore, feel free to rely on your “Whole” parts: for example, on your adult ability to take care of yourself, on the ability to ask questions like: “So what?”, thereby removing importance from what you have attached so much importance to.

2) It’s great that you paid attention to your health and ordered tests. If all indicators are normal, there may indeed be a manifestation of neurosis, which only needs to be supported by comfort and sports. Moreover, with good tests, you can calmly begin to include sports in your life.

Although I don’t know exactly what tests you took. If only general tests, it makes sense to check the tests for micronutrient deficiencies. For such tests, it is better to contact an endocrinologist. He will also help you decipher them correctly and prescribe vitamins and microelements. I’m more than sure that he will prescribe you Magnesium, which is consumed by the body in huge quantities during stress and after alcohol. In general, you can start taking Magnesium yourself. It has a significant effect on mood, recovery from stress and strengthening of the nervous system. The only thing is that it needs to be taken in courses, and not on an ongoing basis. In Russia there is a wonderful mineral water Donat. Research how to take it on the Internet and find one that is not counterfeit. There is also an interesting biological supplement DLPA, which works with anxiety, mood swings, and also removes toxins and helps cope with addictions. It is good to take it, starting with a small dosage and increasing slightly as you go.

Well, it would be good to check the adrenal glands. During times of stress, they are the ones who suffer.

3) By the way, stress is unlikely to go anywhere in life. Because even a surge of positive emotions is also stress. The only thing that can be done is to strengthen the body and the reaction to stress will be softer, it will be better to overcome it without side effects and reactions from the psyche. Sports and activity in general provide fantastic endurance and help you not notice many stressful moments, react with humor, and increase your interest in being a winner rather than a victim.

Pay attention to the state of the victim, which you try on yourself when describing situations. Of course, the undoubted advantage of sacrifice is attention and the fact that the person will be pitied, but every time you slide into pity, it means abandoning your own strength, refusing to accept the challenges of life.

4) Quitting alcohol most likely was not the cause of your condition, but merely revealed a reality that you either were not ready to face, or you noticed that it was not comfortable for you. You can cope on your own by strengthening your body and spirit—wonderful. If you see that you can’t cope, take full-fledged therapy with a psychologist’s consultation online or live. An in-person consultation will show you a lot and bring you up from the depths.

I also recommend paying attention to whether your condition with fears will recur in the middle of spring. Since most often mental exacerbations occur in the fall (as you described, a month ago) and in the spring during the change of seasons. If it really happens again, just take more care of your body and nervous system during these periods.

And now, if this is possible for you, maybe it makes sense to go to a sanatorium and pay attention to physiotherapeutic procedures, massages and detoxification of the body?

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Getting rid of clinophobia

Based on the fact that a phobia is an exaggeration of a real risk, it is important for a person to realize the presence of the problem and its absurdity. In most cases, clinophobes understand their situation themselves, but it happens that a person has to explain the absurdity of his fear.

Facts and evidence are used to make the clinophobe aware of the problem. The most popular types of therapy are :

1. Impact. A behavioral method is used, in which the patient is under the influence of a frightening situation. The person is placed in a bedroom and, under the influence of medications, is forced to sleep. Over time, the amount of active drugs in the tablets decreases until the release of a substance that imitates medicinal properties.
2. Desensitization. The method is based on teaching the patient to enjoy a frightening state. Since relaxation and fear are incompatible, it is believed that this will gradually prevent the fear reaction from arising. To achieve the goal, relaxation is used to reduce muscle tension.
3. Modeling. The doctor uses the behavior suggestion technique, that is, together with the patient, he studies options for the development of various phobic situations, finding the most favorable ones.
4. Implosive. The essence of this therapy is to deliberately immerse the clinophobe in memories to study the reasons for the appearance of his phobia. At the same time, various options are offered to get out of this situation with a favorable outcome for the psyche.
5. Rational. An influence is applied based on logical arguments and explanations of the underlying reasons for the appearance of fear. As a result, the patient develops a clear understanding of the artificiality of fear.
6. Hypnosis. Contrary to the common belief that hypnotherapy is simply manipulation, it actually makes a person aware and removes his psychological barriers. But it cannot be applied to all people. In general, a person should not With the help of hypnosis, a specialist influences the cause of fear on an unconscious level, helping to get rid of it forever.
7. Cognitive therapy. The most commonly used form of treatment. It involves adjusting thoughts and reducing anxiety. The ultimate goal of this type of therapy is to rid the clinophobe of distorted ideas and incorrect perceptions of reality regarding the fear experienced.
8. Medication. According to various studies, such treatment is effective only in the initial stages of the onset of a phobia. It is customary to treat a progressive disease using a combined method. The combination of drug therapy with another type always gives a positive result. The drugs used are antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics and tranquilizers. The use of medications should only be carried out under the guidance of a doctor, since incorrect doses can cause even greater harm to the body.

Researchers have noted that often even the most severe forms of clinophobia can be cured if the patient has someone who takes on the role of a “sleep partner.” This is the kind of person who can convince him that he will protect him from any negative impact during sleep or wake him up in the event of a disaster.

What are the symptoms of being afraid to sleep?

When diagnosing the disorder, there may be certain difficulties, so the appropriate medications and dosage are prescribed by a specialist.

Hypnophobia has psychological and physical symptoms such as:

• inexplicable anxiety when talking about dreams;
• fear of death in a dream;
• experience when falling asleep;
• increased sweating;
• headache;
• increased heart rate;
• changes in blood pressure;
• dry mouth;
• insomnia;
• tremor in the limbs.

Some hypnophobes try to alleviate the symptoms of the disease with the help of medications (antidepressants and tranquilizers). This is not the best way of treatment. Medicines act locally and do not last long and are addictive. The optimal method of getting rid of sleep phobia, as well as other fears, is psychotherapy. The method of treatment is selected personally for each by a psychologist-hypnologist, for example Nikita Valerievich Baturin.

Classical origins

Fear of the process of sleep or falling asleep arises solely due to destructive (far-fetched) reasons. This phobia is typical for people with morbid fantasies or those who have some other mental illness. For people with a mental disorder, clinophobia is already a secondary or concomitant syndrome.

The classic causes of clinophobia are most often the following fears::

1. Fear of suffocation. This possibility is explained by severe chronic snoring or becoming entangled in bed linen.
2. Nightmares.
3. Be subjected to violence. Penetration of burglars or other people with malicious intentions into the apartment.
4. The occurrence of man-made disasters. Earthquake, fire, gas leak, outbreak of nuclear war, etc.
5. Sopor. An unconscious state with symptoms similar to death.

Consequences of refusing treatment

Clinophobia is a dangerous mental illness that feeds and develops. It should also be taken into account that any exacerbation of such a phobia can lead to suicide. But even if those who are affected by it do not have such thoughts, they risk developing a persistent drug addiction, making the situation worse.

Many people suffering from clinophobia become alcoholics or drug addicts, because this is the only way they can relax and fall asleep. It is also characteristic that with advanced clinophobia, delusions and hallucinations quite often occur.

Fear of sleep is a completely treatable phobia. But an important role in getting rid of this type of fear is played by a person’s awareness of the problem and his desire for a speedy recovery.

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Treatment

It is very difficult to overcome hypnophobia on your own. This disease is characterized by a protracted course. For example, if a patient was afraid to sleep in the dark as a child, then this fear does not disappear in adulthood.

To completely get rid of the phobia “Fear of falling asleep,” you will need qualified help. Psychotherapy usually gives good results. After just a few sessions, including the removal of anxiety, fear and worry about thoughts of falling asleep, a person begins to understand the groundlessness of his fears. Also, using psychotherapy, the doctor can remove misconceptions about sleep and its consequences.

In advanced cases of the phobia “Fear of falling asleep” and if the patient develops mental disorders due to lack of sleep, the doctor may prescribe medication, in addition to the therapy described above.