Anxiety and Lack of Sleep

[jdtm]

Our granddaughter is struggling to get to sleep at night - often not until after midnight.  She suffers from severe social phobia and is currently taking a low dose of an antidepressant.  She was doing well until about two months ago.  She claims school is not bothering her and she is not afraid to sleep alone.  I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions to better help her to relax and ease her mind.  She is 12 years old and dealing with poor sleep issues leaves her irritable and hyper not to mention getting poor results in school.  Help ...

[MrGreen]

Forgive me for saying this, but hyper and lack of sleep are not really 2 things that go hand in hand. You would imagine she would be the reverse of hyper. Lack of energy. Due to the lack of sleep. Was she diagnosed with depression? I am just guessing, so don't quote me on this ( Noit a doctor or medical expert ), but anti-depressants bring you up. They are to make you feel better when low. If she was not a depressive maybe the tablet is wrong for her? It is bringing her up. Making her hyper. Giving her too much energy that someone who doesn't sleep shouldn't have. Sleeping tablets at that age, I personally thing, are not right. But they might be better than an anti-depressant if that form of medication is not working for her. Again a small dose only. Nothing like an adult would take. I do see the social phobia part. Thinking more something to calm her down. Not bring her up. If you see what I mean. Suppose you have tried everything else, like a radio in the room with her, book reading, etc, etc. Just normal activities that would zonk anybody out. I myself have to have a radio on at night to fall asleep. But I'm 38. But I still need that something along with medication. Takes the mind off things. At night the mind can race a lot. Even worse if you can't sleep. really do hope you can find an answer for her. Such a young age to be dealing with such big problems.

[sumihari]

Hi jdtm,

I personally suffered from chronic insomnia 1 -2 nights of sleep for months , so I can relate a bit to your post. For me when I did not sleep well, I was very anxious but full of energy and not depressed. I also came across an interesting article in the internet that sleep deprivation had been used to treat depression in the past and now again there are some experiments on this. From what I read, some depressed people are very lethargic and sleep too much, and when you deprive them from sleep , some of them actually become more energetic. Interesting.

Anyway coming back to your granddaughter, is she going through any hormonal changes, that could possibly cause sleep loss. Does she have relationship issues which she can't talk to you about. If so, encourage her to talk with you guys.

The other thing I can think of is some sort of unwinding process, before she goes to bed, so some sort of calming routine, perhaps talk to one of her friends who has a calming influence so she is going off to sleep with happy thoughts. Or else listening to some pleasant music, or watching a funny movie.

It is also probably not a bad idea to go back to her doctor and review her antidepressant. I am not a doctor though but I think once her sleep pattern is on track, she will be able to deal with the social phobia and then off the medication. I am surprised that she is on an antidepressant at such a young age, but I guess it is a low dose and as I said I am not a doctor. It would be terrific for her to see a psychologist to help her deal with the social phobia. The pill alone will not do the trick for some.

I guess you have to have patience with her anxiety ,recovery is a long journey for many.  

sumi

[nursegirl6572]

I agree with sumi's post above.  I think it may be time to get her back to the doctor.  Lack of sufficient sleep could definitely cause her to be restless, hyper, lack of concentration, moody, etc.  You also prolly got the hormonal thing going on with her too, which doesn't help matters.

I think getting her back to the doctor to address these issues would be the best thing to do at this point...and of course just continue to offer her your support and love...and make sure she knows she can talk to you (which is surely sounds like she already knows this).

I'm thinking of you...it's so hard to see children not functioning quite like they should....or not as content as you'd like them to be.

Hugs to you and your GD.  Let us know how she is doing, okay?

[jdtm]

Thank you for all your comments.  I don't believe her medication is the issue; her severe social phobia is being treated properly with access to many mental health professionals as well as a local support group.  I think there are problems in the home as the mother (our DIL) suffers from several mental health issues which our son prefers to ignore.  Of course, no one will admit this.

I think McGreen and sumihai are correct in that she needs an unwinding process; however, she tends to "play" with her computer at night instead of reading or music or journalling.   But, I am not in the home and have no input.  So, as nursegirl6572 suggested, I have been "catching" her on MSN Live and chat with her for a few minutes before I retire - making sure that she knows how much I care for her.  I hope this helps - I know it gives me some comfort knowing that she is O.K. at bedtime.

Thanks for your input - jdtm