My nightmares and fears are preventing me from sleeping..help!

As a child, I was insanely afraid of the dark and would often get horrible nightmares which resulted in my father having to sleep in my bedroom with me. When I was 18, after watching a scary movie (I'm usually extremely good when it comes to scary movies), my inability to sleep, my fear of the dark and my horrible nightmares have all returned. I was a boarderline insomniac for a full month after watching that movie where I would only sleep 2 hours a day in the morning after sunrise before I went to university for classes which resulted in me being miserable, restless, irritable, and pretty much anything else that went along with lack of sleep. After this month or so passed I was able to sleep more regularly though occasionally I would have one of this nightmares and try to repress it. I am 19 now, and after viewing a movie trailer for the sequel to that movie, all of my issues have once more returned and I am unable to sleep at all, even with a light on. The smallest of noises wakes me up, my body constantly jolts awake, and my heart is beating so hard and fast that I can hear it in my ears. I'm pretty much terrified, very emotional and I am just completely unable to sleep. What should I do?

[cheshchesh819]

firstly you need to stop watching these films you say you are ok with them but obviously you aint,they must be playing on your mind and making you anxious,secondly you need to go to your doctors to discuss anxiety,but please try to calm down as all these symptoms are all part and parcel of the anxiety syndrome,did anything happen to you as a child for you to be so afraid of the dark?

[Julie359]

Hiya, yeah as the above poster said you really need to knock horror movies on the head.  Im a little confused as to why you would watch the trailor to the movie sequel that put you in this situation in the first place?  Anyway that said, seeing as this is severely distruping your life you need to get yourself into therapy, something in your childhood must of happened to of caused this intense anxiety, it may of been something that you just can not remember in the fore front of your mind but a repressed memeory that is stirring up all these anxieties.  A good therapist can help you deal with these and teach you how to control your anxiety.  Maybe in the short term you could ask your Gp/PC doc for a anti-anxiety med just so you can get a decent nights sleep....
Although personally i would highly recommend going to your health food shop and buying Valerian root.  This is fantastic for insomnia, it will make you sleep like a baby.  If you have the money try to buy a more expensive brand as the quailty will be better than the cheap stuff but either way this will help you, trust me!

Let us know how you get on and if you did try it and what you thought.  Good-luck and hope your feeling better soon.

[singitgirl]

See a therapist. I was scared of the dark as a child and I still am. I have been anxious all of my life. I live in a house and just recently moved my bedroom upstairs and still scared. I have panic disorder,generalized disorder and depression. The depression is because i am friendly and outgoing but can not break out of this. I now take prozac after years of taking other meds. I love prozac because it is what works for me. I hope this helps.

[MissMiz]

I would just like to add a sidenote after reading your comment. I am never really scared about horror films, in fact they usually just make me laugh because they're so ridiculous. There's just something about this film in particular, which is not actually scary, that gets within my mind and causes me to have this reactions. Also, I did not intentionally watch the trailer to the sequel to the movie that started this in the first place. I was at the movie theatre watching a movie when I had witnessed it. Thank you for your comment though, I will take it into consideration.

[cheshchesh819]

i agree most horror films are funny ,what film is it that gives you these reactions