Scared to sleep at night

[Lotus187]

I'm scared to sleep at night, but not during the day. I used to be scared that I wouldn't wake up in the morning, and that is something I figured out was related to my past. Now I'm just scared and don't know why. When I get home from school or work and I'm exhausted, I have no trouble closing my eyes for a nap. But no matter how tired I am at night, I can't sleep. My mind and body refuse to let me. I don't know what I'm scared of. I need to be told that it's OK to go to sleep. Any suggestions on how to get past this or deal with it? I'd really like to get on a normal sleep schedule so I'm not always exhausted at work and school.

[iw63bomer]

In May of 2011, I checked into the ER with a fever over 103.  This persisted for about 36 hours; then the fevers would come back every night, lasting about six to eight hours, for the next ten days.   I had a strep infection in my blood stream.  But now, over six months later, I find it very difficult to sleep at night.  I have never had any anxiety about the dark and I don’t understand what is happening.  I am sure it is all related to being sick. I have some other emotional fall out in that I can’t stand to be around crowds of people – something which never bothered me before.  I know I am not getting enough sleep.  Some kind of white noise, like an air purifier helps, but sleeplessness is still a problem.

[mammo]

Has something happened to you at night in the past that may be making you afraid?  Try skipping naps during the day, napping makes it even harder to fall asleep at night.  Give the illusion that it's daylight by leaving on some lights and the TV.  Fall asleep while watching TV or reading, this keeps out the negative thoughts. I think therapy would be very beneficial to you, it sounds like something did happen and you may not have ever truly dealt with it.  This is very common and with a little help you can learn how to confront this and move on.  You can try rationalizing it by telling yourself that if you can sleep and wake up during the day....night will not change that.  You may also have your days and nights mixed now with napping during the day and need to get back on track by skipping the naps. I hope this helps, and I'm sure others will have some helpful advice for you.  Take care.