How Insomnia Is Created by Fear of Insomnia? Somniphobia is a fear of going to bed that produces intense anxiety and fear. Hypnophobia, clinophobia, sleep anxiety, and sleep dread are all terms used to describe this phobia.
Anxiety over sleeping can be caused by sleep disorders. If you suffer insomnia, for example, you might be concerned all day about sleeping that night. Worrying about sleep might be exacerbated by frequent nightmares or sleep paralysis.
As with many phobias, the fear that somniphobia creates can have a significant impact on your everyday life, regular activities, and overall well-being.
Continue reading to learn more about somniphobia’s symptoms, causes, and treatment options.
What are the signs and symptoms?
Sleep is an important component of overall health. However, if you suffer from somniphobia, even thinking about sleeping might be distressing.
In many situations, this phobia stems from a dread of what can happen while you’re sleeping, rather than a fear of sleep itself.
Other mental and physical symptoms might accompany somniphobia.
The following are some of the mental health symptoms associated with somniphobia:
having panic attacks when it’s time to sleep having trouble focusing on things other than sleep-related worry and fear 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 panic attacks when it’s time to sleep
If you’re irritable or have mood swings, there’s a good chance you’re suffering from recalling things is proving difficult
In children, crying, clinginess, and other resistance to bedtime, including not wanting caregivers to leave them alone, are common physical symptoms of somniphobia.
Tightness in your chest and increased heart rate when thinking about sleep sweating, chills, and hyperventilation or other trouble breathing when thinking about sleep are common physical symptoms of somniphobia.
It’s impossible to stay awake all night. If you’ve been suffering with somniphobia for a while, you’re probably able to sleep most nights.
This sleep, however, may not be especially restful. You may find it difficult to fall back asleep after waking up repeatedly.
Other symptoms of somnophilia include coping mechanisms. To keep themselves occupied, some individuals turn on lights, turn on the television, or listen to music.
Others may turn to substances, such as alcohol, to alleviate their anxiety about sleeping.
How Insomnia Is Created by Fear of Insomnia?
The specific cause of somniphobia is unknown to experts. However, several sleep disorders may play a role in its development, such as:
Paralysis during sleep. When you wake up from REM sleep, your muscles are paralysed, making it difficult to move around.
You may have nightmare-like hallucinations, which can be very terrifying, especially if you have frequent episodes of sleep paralysis.
Nightmare disorder is a type of nightmare disorder. This results in frequent, vivid nightmares that bother you during the day.
You may recall events from your nightmares, be terrified of what happened in your dream, or be concerned about experiencing additional nightmares.
If you suffer from one of these sleep disorders, you may begin to dread going to bed because you don’t want to deal with the unpleasant symptoms.
Trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), both of which can trigger nightmares, can also lead to a fear of sleeping.
You may also be concerned about things that might happen while you’re asleep, such as a break-in, a fire, or another tragedy.
The fear of dying has also been connected to somniphobia. Worrying about dying in your sleep might lead to a fear of going asleep in the first place.
Read also: Sleep loss and depression
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