<\/p>\n
Many sleep problems are intertwined with many types of anxiety disorders. Some of the most debilitating examples of the latter are phobias, characterized by persistent and consistent fears of\u00a0certain situations or objects.<\/p>\n
There is one\u00a0condition that stands out when it comes to both sleep health and mental health<\/a>.\u00a0It’s known as sleep dread, and is also called somniphobia or hypnophobia.<\/p>\n Sleep dread is\u00a0the fear of sleep. It\u00a0may sound simple, but the\u00a0phobia can have complicated manifestations.\u00a0There is no universal cause of sleep dread.<\/strong><\/p>\n We know what it means, but how does it work? When you dread going to sleep, what happens? Judging by the definition, it is safe to assume that the typical result of sleep dread is insomnia—or, at the very least, restless tossing and turning. Note that suffering from insomnia does not necessarily mean that you suffer from sleep dread.<\/p>\n Why does this happen? Shouldn’t the body’s sleep regulation processes<\/a> overcome negative or nagging thoughts after a certain point? It’s not that easy.\u00a0Even if the body wants to rest, with sleep dread it is also processing fear,\u00a0which is counterproductive to rest.<\/p>\n Enough fear and acute stress can activate the human body’s fight-or-flight response.\u00a0This results in an increase in hormones that keep you alert and awake:\u00a0adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine.\u00a0These are designed to maintain a state of readiness in case you are threatened—basically, the opposite of what you need to drift off into dreamland.<\/p>\n You may want to get some rest\u00a0and overcome sleep dread, but the body responds to hormones better than it responds to feelings. Even if you do eventually fall asleep, chances of\u00a0your slumber being actually restful and refreshing aren’t good.<\/p>\n The causes are varied. Fear of sleep can actually be broken down into specific nuances, which have different triggering factors.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n There is the fear of falling asleep because of what happens to you when you’re slumbering, the fear of going to sleep and not waking up in the morning, and even the fear of not sleeping enough. Below are some elements the could allow sleep dread to develop.<\/p>\n Sometimes, the explanation is straightforward. Somniphobia may develop as a result of extreme anxiety connected to what happens during slumber. Let’s go through some of the common ones here.<\/p>\n Other causes have to do with conditions leading to unpredictable\u00a0events while asleep. Night terrors, nightmares, sleep apnea and sleepwalking may fall under this blanket category, too. The difference is the shift in focus—from persistent discomfort to possible death. When it manifests as a separate phobia, it’s called thanatophobia.<\/p>\n Below are some\u00a0additional factors that contribute to sleep dread arising from this way of thinking.<\/p>\n Your varied anxieties may be keeping you up, but that’s just one way that this condition causes sleep dread. Surprisingly, sleep dread can also develop as an offshoot of being concerned about not getting proper sleep. As contradictory as that seems, it’s not unusual at all for concern to turn into excessive worrying.<\/p>\n Remember when we talked about loss of control just a few paragraphs ago? This particular flavor of anxiety is a the opposite end of the spectrum. There’s a name for it, too: Sleep anxiety.<\/p>\n It is type of performance anxiety<\/a> that’s not based on social fears.\u00a0Anxiety has a way of disrupting logical thought processes in ways that can seem\u00a0unbelievable to those not directly suffering from it. When you stress over\u00a0not having enough rest<\/a> or having to go through and maintain a regular routine of sleeping, that feeling can overshadow the actual need to sleep.<\/p>\n Sleep should be a time of rest and relaxation, but with stress and anxiety mixed in, it can feel like a high pressure job or a performance you simply can’t mess up.<\/p>\n Yes! It is strange and curious when someone is suffering from a debilitating condition and is unaware of it. Sleep dread can be subtle and insidious.\u00a0<\/strong>Below are two common examples of what having sleep dread without being aware of it might look like.<\/p>\n Some people may not have any actual anxiety about sleep itself, or any difficulty falling asleep when they choose to do so. However, they may often stretch out their waking hours to an unhealthy degree. Why?<\/p>\n Imagine that you dislike going to school or work, and much prefer the time you get to yourself after\u00a0your responsibilities have been fulfilled.\u00a0To get more hours of perceived happiness before the day ends, without compromising commitments, you may shave time off sleep.<\/p>\n It starts with something small. Just a few more pages of that book you’re reading, another episode of that TV show you’re marathoning, another beer before the last call at the bar where you’re hanging out with friends. What’s a few more moments awake when your have a snooze alarm<\/a> to wake you up in the morning? It’s\u00a0minutes at first, then hours; until you’re\u00a0“powering through” whole days without any real rest.<\/p>\n Maybe it’s not even about disliking what you do for most of the day. It\u00a0could even be the other way around!\u00a0Maybe you’re a workaholic that doesn’t know when to stop. It could be that you’re burning the candle at both ends because you’re gunning for a promotion. Is maximum productivity really still what it is if it doesn’t include downtime?<\/p>\n When people stay awake far longer than they should enough times, it becomes habit. Even if you know it’s wrong, or you think of wrecking your sleep-wake schedule as a temporary fix, you are confirming through your actions that sleep is not important to you. Unknowingly,\u00a0you may also be teaching\u00a0yourself to dread sleep.<\/p>\n Sleep dread can also develop when someone has insomnia.\u00a0This may happen more often with\u00a0the kind of insomnia that is caused by physical rather than mental issues; such as asthma, severe allergies or chronic pain.\u00a0Remember,\u00a0we already mentioned chronic pain earlier as both related to insomnia and as a possible cause of somniphobia.<\/p>\n When\u00a0a person has insomnia that originates from something other than anxiety, depression or any other mental condition or trauma, it’s easy to overlook a slowly developing phobia. One of the most obvious signs is arranging one’s daily\u00a0schedule around insomnia, often in the guise of maintaining coping mechanisms.<\/p>\n If you are an insomniac,\u00a0do you find yourself:<\/p>\n When a person makes these sort of allowances due to insomnia, it is safe to assume that they avoid sleep to the point of giving up a normal life. When you avoid something to the point where it impacts your daily\u00a0routine and causes you to change your lifestyle, it is a phobia—or as good as one.<\/p>\n We’re not medical experts or professionals, so take anything we say here with a grain of salt. We love sleep, and are hard pressed to imagine what it would be like to be afraid of it. But part of loving sleep is making sure that we give good sleep advice. This counts!<\/p>\n We started this article by stating that sleep dread is a phobia, which in turn is a type of panic or anxiety disorder. Many of the steps you can take to reduce sleep-depriving stress and worry have already been discussed in our previous\u00a0article on sleep and anxiety<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is this little tidbit of wisdom: Face your fears and you will\u00a0have a better chance of overcoming\u00a0them. It may sound trite, but you can’t ignore the truth in it. Whether or not you intend to seek professional help—though if sleep dread is affecting your health and life dramatically, we do strongly urge you to do so—you need to come to terms with reality.<\/p>\n If\u00a0several points in this article\u00a0feel familiar,\u00a0you need to\u00a0admit to yourself that you may have a problem.\u00a0You may have a phobia, whether or not it fits your preconceived notions of that a phobia is supposed to be like.<\/p>\n That is the first step of many that you will have to take.\u00a0Getting through and over\u00a0sleep dread is no simple task.\u00a0It’s going to take time to undo bad habits and familiar routines! But if you\u00a0alter your way of thinking and your perspective, it’s easier to make positive changes.<\/p>\n Let’s say you’ve already set an appointment with a healthcare professional to get diagnosed. That’s already a huge leap! What else can you do? You can start with baby steps that work to improve your sleep health little by little.\u00a0Below are some articles that may help you.<\/p>\n Baby steps can result in bigger and better improvements down the line—and eventually, a consistent good night’s rest. Good luck, and sweet dreams!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jump to: What Is Sleep Dread? What Causes a Fear of Sleep? Can You Have Sleep Dread and Not Know It? Overcoming Dread: How Do You Beat the Fear of Sleeping? Many sleep problems are intertwined with many types of anxiety disorders. Some of the most debilitating examples of the latter are phobias, characterized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1145,"parent":1126,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"article-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1143"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3591,"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1143\/revisions\/3591"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>What Is Sleep Dread?<\/h2>\n
<\/a>What Causes a Fear of Sleep?<\/h2>\n
1. Conditions That Negatively Impact Sleep<\/h3>\n
\n
2. A\u00a0Fear of Dying<\/h3>\n
\n
3. Sleep Anxiety<\/h3>\n
![\"Close](\"https:\/\/goodnights.rest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/article-woman-sleeping-face-800x600.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/a>Can You Have Sleep Dread and Not Know It?<\/h2>\n
When Staying Awake\u00a0Becomes a Habit<\/h3>\n
When Somniphobia Develops Along with Insomnia<\/h3>\n
\n
<\/a>Overcoming Dread: How Do You Beat the Fear of Sleeping?<\/h2>\n
First\u00a0Things First: Admit That You Are Afraid to Go to Sleep<\/h3>\n
Take Baby Steps to Improve Your Sleep Health<\/h3>\n
\n