Hypnophobia, or hypnophobia, is one of the most common phobias. This condition, which is seen as a psychological disorder, is an anxiety disorder. The cause of this disorder, which can occur in every group, regardless of men and women, can usually be seen due to traumas experienced in childhood. There are different methods in the treatment of this disease, which can adversely affect the life of the individual physically and mentally.
The person or people who experience this condition, which is a psychological disorder, do not want to sleep for different reasons and may have some concerns before sleep. Hypnophobia patients feel helpless, thinking that there may be some danger during sleep and that they cannot respond to it.
In some cases, the person may not want to sleep because they think they will have frightening nightmares. These people cannot sleep comfortably even if they fall asleep. While the person is very tired and exhausted because they cannot sleep, this situation can cause many negative effects in the person's life.
Causes of Sleep Fear
The exact cause of hypnophobia is not known. However, the occurrence of certain diseases and fear situations can be seen among the reasons for the emergence of this disease. Too many nightmares during childhood can also trigger this disease.
Thinking that this problem will continue constantly affects the person psychologically and may lead to different disease conditions in the future. People with certain diseases such as heart disease may also be afraid of sleeping. People who cannot breathe during sleep, fear that the heart will stop and fear of death cannot sleep properly.
People who have experienced sleep paralysis or people who are anxious about this condition may also develop this disease later. Emotional and physical factors can also cause this disease to develop.
Suddenly waking up from sleep during some disasters such as earthquakes can cause trauma in the person and fear that it may happen again during sleep.
What are the symptoms of sleep phobia?
This disorder can affect a person physically and mentally. Some patients may experience fear and anxiety when talking about and thinking about sleep. In addition, this can often occur when the individual is preparing for sleep or when they are trying to fall asleep.
It can be characterized by anxiety, worry, restlessness, irritability and panic. Some people with this disorder may also take medication to keep them awake.
There are many different symptoms of this disorder. Most of these symptoms are caused by the inability of the individual to get full sleep and insufficient rest of the body. Common symptoms of sleep phobia can be listed as follows:
- Anxiety about being able to sleep
- Mood disturbance
- Not sleeping and avoiding sleep
- Shortness of breath or breathing too fast
- Sweating and dry mouth
- Stomach problems (nausea and vomiting)
- Feeling of chest tightness and palpitations
- Fatigue and weakness
- Depression and anxiety disorders
How Does Fear of Sleep Disorder Pass? What is the Treatment?
Many different methods are used in the treatment of this disease, which is seen as a psychological disorder. The determining factor in treatment is how much the person can respond and adapt to the treatment and methods. According to this situation, the treatment technique and method can be changed. In addition, depending on the stage of the disease, more than one treatment can be applied at the same time.
Changing one's lifestyle is an effective method in the early stages. In some cases, the patient may be able to prevent this disease by taking up a new hobby, trying to forget the worries and anxieties they are experiencing, and making the body tired with physical activities.
Techniques such as yoga and meditation can also be recommended to relax and help the person to relax. With relaxation techniques, the patient can both manage their breathing and focus on the sleep process. It also helps to prevent sudden anger and stress situations. Panic and tension caused by fear can also be prevented with this treatment technique.
One of the methods in the treatment of people with the disease is to have someone lie next to the patient before going to sleep. In this way, the person can gain confidence. For people living alone, this technique can be applied with a pet animal.
Cognitive behavioral therapy methods can be preferred over the anxieties that cause the patient to be afraid. The problem of fear can be eliminated with desensitization therapy applied to the patient.
Psychoanalytic therapy method can be applied to address the cause of the patient's fears. Since the patient's fear of death during sleep and the fear of having nightmares may be due to traumas experienced in childhood, this situation is revealed and tried to be overcome.
In advanced diseases, drug treatment may be recommended and used in combination with other treatment applications. While aiming to improve the psychological health of the patient, it is tried to provide the sleep time the body needs. In addition, different disorders caused by this disease are also tried to be prevented.