Insomnia caused by stress

[Ninjamanda]

I am in the process of moving to a new city. I have been so stressed out about finding a job, having enough money to move, finding a place to live. I am worried about the people I am moving in with. And my car isn't working right and its going to cost so much money to fix.

I feel so stressed out that my mind won't stop working long enough for me to get any sleep. I haven't slept in days and I am getting sick haha.

Does this happen to anyone else when things start getting frustrating and complicated? I have laid in bed forever, I have watched tv shows for hours on end. I spend so much time on this forum now because I can't find things to do with myself. It's 630am and I just want to sleep.

I also am having trouble feeling things about this situation. I am leaving all the people I spent the last 7 years with and I know I should be sad but my mind is closing all of that out. Instead its giving me nightmares if I do manage to fall asleep.

What should I do? Just take a bunch of nyquil and pass out? Wah

 

[SandMizzle]

I guess that's completely normal. So many things are changing right now, that needs some time. I can just provide you with some advices I do when this happens to me:
- I take a walk (helps for me to free my head)
- I read a book (not the whole one of course, about 20 pages, try to dream about the book)
- I try to meditate
- I do drugs (depends on you^^, not the best idea though)
- take valerian drops

I know it's really frustrating, but it doesn't help if you roll around in your bed and try to think about sleeping. Just get yourself a relaxed activity you can do to get your head free of your problems for a short time.

I also can relate to the feeling thing. It often takes weeks for me to realise how I feel about big changes. Maybe it's an INTP thing... Nightmares are awesome and never real. Don't take them too serious.

Hope I could help you a bit!

 

[Ninjamanda]

I smoke but it doesn't make me sleepy enough.

My nightmares are always whats actually happening scary in my life, or things I don't want to think about or things that make me sad.

I have played endless hours of Plants vs Zombies haha so see if it will lull me to sleep.

I can't read when I have too many things to think about, I will just reread the same page over and over again because my mind is too hectic to concentrate.

But yeah, its going to take me a while to process the emotional part of this experience. I have always been this way and it ends up coming out at inappropriate or unexpected times. I am so focussed on every thing that needs to get done that I feel like emotions are the least of my problems.

I also do this thing where I do things I usually do when I am depressed but I don't feel depressed. Like take baths, watch sad movies, eat a lot of food, listen to sad songs but I can't feel sad or I don't but I have been going through the motions. I lock myself in more when this happens. I avoid friends even more than usual. I can feel the volcano of suppressed feelings bubbling, but I don't know where or when it's going to erupt! AHHHH

haha but putting my stress and worries out into the universe did make me feel a bit better and thank you for taking time to suggest things to me.

P.S. I love totoro.

 

[NinjaSurfer]

I guess you can also try focusing on all the positive things that will come due to your change in life situation; I assume you are making the change for something positive, right? of course, there will be trade-offs in your situation.

Think about this-- you will get to reinvent yourself too. That usually happens when you move to a new area where nobody knows you! Yay. A chance to do the re-invent thing doesn't come too often; so often we typecast ourselves without knowing it, and then we're somewhat stuck with the image after the first impression.

I've always looked forward to the time where I can reinvent myself again. The last one being when I moved away from home to attend college in a new state. I'm looking to do the clean sweep move to a new area kind of like you're doing very soon. Hopefully I can pull it off too.

Good luck!

 

[SandMizzle]

Edit:

I just read your post here: http://www.intpforum.com/showthread.php?p=299334#post299334
I have similar experiences with smoking as you have.
It sometimes seemed to me that when I smoked some MJ on stressfull days, I couldn't sleep very well at night, maybe it helps when you just smoke some before going to sleep and not the whole day through^^

 

[Ninjamanda]

Thanks and I wish I was going some where new, but I am going back to the city I grew up in so all my friends from high school are down there and a lot of my family.

I reinvented myself in the town I am leaving. I feel like I became a real person in the time I have spent here.

But things didn't work out as planned, I came up here for college and it didn't work out so I feel some what disappointed going back not having done anything signifant with my time away.

So there are a lot of anxieties about going back.

I know eventually it will be ok but for the next two weeks, I am going to be freaking out. But hopefully I will calm down enough to get some sleep!!!

 

[NinjaSurfer]

just live it up where you are then and stop worrying about what's going to happen!!! I have a tendency to worry too much about the inevitable, but then I remind myself that's NOT logical at all, if it's going to happen anyways, then it's totally inefficient to expend energy on anxiety about an inevitable situation; plus I'm sure you miss your friends and family anyways and there will be lots of good things to come from going home! sorry things didn't work out for ya-- but as my mentor 50Cent says in his book "The 50th Law"-- "you can always find a positive out of every negative event." I'm paraphrasing him somewhat, but it's so true.

 

[Ninjamanda]

haha 50cent? I prefer Eminem as a mentor.

Yeah I know things will be ok, I just have to have a slight freak out before I can calm down.

 

[NinjaSurfer]

haha 50cent? I prefer Eminem as a mentor.

Yeah I know things will be ok, I just have to have a slight freak out before I can calm down.

Eminem is good for when you're feeling like crap
but when you're ready to start being a Bauss with a capital B
and start stacking some bills yo
50 is the right guy

 

[Ninjamanda]

I saw live hard or die trying or whatever movie that was. I prefer 8-mile. Eminem oddly boosted my confidence in myself.

But 50cent did get shot a bunch of times and lives, thats pretty BA!!!!

 

[skip]

Try Hatha yoga. Valerian root worked well for about two months, then I seemed to develop a tolerance to it. As a last resort I sometimes take Benadryl.

 

[HDINTP]

Yes i think i sometimes have this too and so i naturally think it is possible. I would recommend long walk alone along river... helps a lot in my case or i also drink tea or bear so tea is better isn't it and think about live and yes when it is bear i get negative feedback and opposite in case of tea. And give it lemon and sugar i could also say honey but it comes to if you like it or not i don't like it that much.

 

[intpz]

Hm, well I often have insomnia, but then again, I am in a really shitty situation about 95%+ of the time.