Posted by super on January 10, 2001, at 7:53:55
In reply to Re: sleep for bipolars (long), posted by Todd on January 9, 2001, at 23:28:21
Hi Todd,
I have known a lot of people with bipolar disorder, including myself, who need a lot of sleep. If it makes you function better when you are awake, then I think there's nothing wrong with sleeping as much as you need to. Forget about what they say about seven or eight hours being normal for adults, and pay attention to your own needs. I had intense guilt for sleeping too much when I was in college, because I felt that it was harder for me to fit everything into my life than it was for my friends who only needed six or seven hours. Over time, I realized that guilt and jealousy were completely unproductive and tried to focus on how I use my awake time instead of worrying about my sleep. In any case, it was much easier for me to stop feeling guilty about sleep when I graduated, since I now have defined work hours, rather than the sense that I should 'study all the time'.
> I don't know about any of you guys, but sleep is a big issue for me. I am usually pretty good about getting to sleep and giving myself at least 7 hours, but I know I need more than that and worry about triggering a manic episode with too much activity. So oftentimes I will catch up on sleep on the weekends and sleep 9 or 10 hours or more. If I don't set an alarm, I could set world records with the duration of my sleep. The issue is that this makes me feel guilty. I feel like I should have been more constructive with my day, like I have blown valuable time. I think it's echoes of my parents' voices in my head, telling me "get out of bed! you'll sleep your life away!" and feeling like catching up on sleep is some kind of a horrible sin. And of course, it's not just the echoes in my head, it's ME telling myself that I could have done this or I could have done that. Why can't I just give myself a break and sleep when I feel I need to? What IS excessive sleep, anyway? Is there even such a thing?
poster:super
thread:3805
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20010105/msgs/3827.html