In exposure therapy, you’ll work with a therapist to gradually expose yourself to your fear while working on ways to reduce fear and anxiety. Having a bedtime rituals can help signal your body that it’s time for bed. But for most cases, exposure therapy is the most effective treatment option. This involves going to bed and getting up at specific times, regardless of how much sleep you actually get. Frequently experiencing nightmares or sleep paralysis also contribute to sleep-related worrying. Put simply, sleep dread is the fear of falling asleep. For example, if you have a sleep disorder, addressing that issue may resolve your somniphobia. Because the sleep debt has become so severe, the entire circadian rhythm is thrown off balance, which also affects hormones and all sorts of bodily functions. And worse, if people are too scared to get their nightly dose of zzz’s, they’ll experience other health challenges as well since sleeping is necessary for both physical and mental well-being. While some of these worries have no grounds in logic, others are genuine fears that carry a significant risk. By acknowledging that your bedtime could be interrupted, and even expecting it, the brain begins to relax and allows you to get the rest you need. That’s why treatment is generally recommended for any condition that keeps you from getting restful sleep. Have you ever thought that you might go to bed and never wake up? You might also fear things that could happen while … When we sleep, our brain shuts down much of our body movements. The term Somniphobia is taking from the Latin language where Somnus means sleep and Phobos means fear. For somniphobia, exposure therapy may include discussing the fear, using relaxation techniques, and then imagining what it would be like to get a good night sleep. Often, even though sleep problems start in the setting of fear, once the fear has passed, sleep problems continue because of changed thinking and behaviour around sleep. When we become conscious again, the ability to move is thankfully restored. This approach helps you identify and work through fears related to sleep. The English suffixes -phobia, -phobic, -phobe (from Greek φόβος phobos, "fear") occur in technical usage in psychiatry to construct words that describe irrational, abnormal, unwarranted, persistent, or disabling fear as a mental disorder (e.g. But this sleep may not be very restful. A trained doctor or specialist may be able to diagnose your problem and recommend a course of treatment relatively quickly. Poor Sleep Cycle — If you have had anxiety or trouble falling asleep for a long time then a pattern of poor sleep may have developed. Put simply, sleep dread is the fear of falling asleep. Last medically reviewed on April 29, 2019, Anxiety may occur at night when you're trying fall asleep. But treatments can help. I stay on my phone just to keep … Thus, Somniphobia is the fear of sleeping or falling asleep. Fear of sleep is fear of the unknown. The longer you suffer from this phobia, the more likely you are to also suffer from chronic fatigue. They can give you a referral to a mental health professional with experience diagnosing and treating phobias. If you’ve had somniphobia for some time, you’re probably able to get some sleep most nights. Though it seems morbid and unlikely, this idea often dominates the minds of those with somniphobia. This phobia is rare, but there…. Talking about fear of sleeplessness when presenting CBT-I as an option, or at the start of sleep restriction, might encourage more sleep onset insomniacs to try it and stick with it long enough … Panic attacks can also happen at night and possibly wake a person from sleep. You’re more likely to develop a specific phobia if you have a close family member who also has a phobia or a family history of anxiety. Somniphobia, an intense fear of sleep, may prevent you from getting the sleep your body needs to function. If you have somniphobia, you’re likely to experience physical health issues related to lack of sleep along with the anxiety and distress phobias usually cause. Yes, these two conditions are closely linked. How to Cope with Megalophobia, or a Fear of Large Objects, How to Overcome Erythrophobia, or the Fear of Blushing, Understanding Automatonophobia: Fear of Human-Like Figures, Understanding Arachibutyrophobia: Fear of Peanut Butter Sticking to the Roof of Your Mouth, feeling fear and anxiety when thinking about sleeping, experiencing distress as it gets closer to bedtime, avoiding going to bed or staying up as long as possible, having trouble focusing on things besides sleep-related worry and fear, nausea or other stomach issues related to persistent anxiety around sleep, tightness in your chest and increased heart rate when thinking about sleep, sweating, chills, and hyperventilation or other trouble breathing when you think about sleeping, in children, crying, clinginess, and other resistance to bedtime, including not wanting caregivers to leave them alone, negatively affects physical or emotional health, causes persistent anxiety and distress related to sleep, causes problems at work, school, or in your personal life, causes you to put off or avoid sleep as much as possible. Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax 2. Or you fall asleep but can’t stay asleep and find … If you’re worried about what will happen to you when you’re unconscious, remind yourself that nothing truly terrible will occur if you’ve taken proper precautions. If you think you're seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting, or feeling things when you're asleep, you may be experiencing hypnagogic hallucinations. The thought of sleepwalking is scary for nearly everyone. It might be tempting to stay awake and stew over every possible scenario, but that’s not productive. In many cases, this phobia may stem less from a fear of sleep itself and more from a fear of what might happen while you’re asleep. Lack of sleep makes your more susceptible to stress. If this fear is affecting your life, you have options to…, Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. Excess worry and fear make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep through the night. Remember when we said to develop a nightly routine to help you fall asleep? Somniphobia – The fear of sleep… Though it seems far-fetched, don’t discount it until you try it. Sleep deprivation can worsen anxiety, spurring a negative cycle … Fortunately, the risk of dying in one’s sleep is low for people with decent overall health. Not getting enough rest due to this type of disorder affects cognitive abilities, including memory loss. You lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to shut off your racing mind. From figuring out how to buy a mattress online, suggesting ones that are good for different needs and body types, or breaking down the newest science behind technology and wellness breakthroughs, Sleep Advisor has you covered. Being afraid of sleeping alone could be caused by a variety of factors. Most of us experience nightmares on occasion. One approach your therapist may recommend is sleep restriction. Somniphobia is a condition that causes extreme fear and anxiety about going to bed. A psychiatrist may prescribe beta blockers or benzodiazepines for short-term or occasional use: Your doctor may also recommend a short-term sleep aid to help you get better sleep while addressing your phobia in therapy. You could experience the same outcome by facing, and even welcoming, your fears. They may worry that they’ll lose control of their body or speech, have horrific nightmares, or even that they’ll go to bed and never wake up again. Plus, most of the causes of anxiety are treatable with simple shifts in mindset or routine. We still recommend it, but we should caution against the use of unhealthy habits to encourage drowsiness. However, some people suffer from the so-called fear of sleep, also known as somniphobia, which leads to traumatic experiences and images of sleep. 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