Posted by ed_uk2010 on January 7, 2015, at 8:24:57
In reply to Re: This time i'm done with meds, posted by baseball55 on January 6, 2015, at 19:43:58
>When I stopped drinking, I couldn't imagine how to get to sleep without alcohol and it took a while. Many sleepless nights. But my body did adjust.
It does take time, for certain. Also, sleep is likely to be improved in the long run. Alcohol readily disrupts sleep architecture and causes 'rebound' early morning waking in the long run.
>The body and brain need sleep. Maybe not as much sleep as we get when we take sleep-enhancing drugs and alcohol. but we need sleep. And what I found is that, eventually, I learned to fall asleep. No particular technique. I just went enough days without sleep that I couldn't not sleep any longer.
Sleeping too long appears to be as bad as not sleeping enough! Also, sleep requirements decrease with age. Interestingly, elderly people who sleep less seem to live longer than those who sleep more.
>I asked myself, what's the worst that can happen if I can't sleep? Just thinking about that question alleviated a lot of my anxiety about insomnia. What's the worst that can happen?Definitely. It's important to remember that people don't die of insomnia. The body will catch little 'micro sleeps' even if you don't sleep properly. Daytime functioning can be impaired by insomnia, but it's often impaired more by sleep meds! .....even though they can make the situation temporarily less distressing.
>For me, the worst that could happen was that I could be alone, in the dark, with no defenses, reflecting on myself.That's often the worst thing - the anxiety. It's good to know that you were helped by therapy.
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:1074765
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150102/msgs/1074899.html