Too much sleep?
Hello!
So, I recently had a big big anxiety relapse. I had been totally fine for 6 years and now and almost 2 moths ago, I relapsed for many reasons that would be too long to write here :P But yeah, it's the worst i've ever been and it's so bad that it's turning into a depression.
I've heard that people with depression tend to sleep either too little or too much. In my case, I think, it's too much. I usually have a 8-9 hours sleep at night and I force myself NOT to sleep during the day. But that's literally all I want to do! I feel so exhausted, all the time... Maybe the fact that I just sit aroun on my computer all day isn't helping... But still... I find this depression symptom very scary and I'm constantly wondering if it is indeed due to my depression/anxiety or if it is a physical symptom. Although, last time I went to the doc, my blood pressure was fine as well as my heart-rate and everything.
Can anyone of you relate? What do you guys usually do about it? Do you allow yourself to nap and sleep more or am I doing the right thing by keeping myself awake?
I feel very lost. :(
Hello! Thank you for your post. I know it can be scary to open up. I also recently had a anxiety relapse and found that I had been sleeping alot. What helped me was trying to find hobbies and things that would help me wanna stay awake during the day. It also helped to establish a normal sleeping pattern. The recommended amount of sleep is 8-9 hours, but that's just an average. Some people need more and some need less. I know I need like 11 hours or I don't feel well. It's best to talk about your concerns about this with your doctor. They'll be better able to calm down your fear about it. If you ever need support, please feel free to contact me or any other listener. Good luck on your journey. Thank you again. :)
AS you stated when we feel depressed, or too anxious, we tend to sleep way more or way less, the healthy sleep for adults is between 6-8 hours, I was reading an article, about it, we sleep more, because mainly we do feel lonely, the more lonely we feel, the more we do sleep, thats in general of course, however, the longer we sleep, the more lonely we get, its a vicious circle, and the same for energy, depression and anxiety is so draining for our mental energy, we do sleep to recover, but our bodies lose the energy when we do oversleep, and thats another vicous circle, the most effective way recomeded by psycologiest as far as I read, sport, good diet, sleep between 6-8 hours a day, and depression will start to get much easier to handle.
Hope you find this helpful, and I hope you will manage to break the cycle of depression soon <3
@aminacoffin @blueocean45
Thank you for your replies! It feels nice to know I'm not the only one who suffers with this. I also find that the more active I am (not even necessarily sports but just walking around the house to do laundry or do the dishes, cook something, etc), the less dizzy and sleepy I get. Basically, it goes away when I stop thinking about it (the thing is that it's not easy to stop thinking about it haha).
@halbromantisch1
Hi there, funnily enough im tired all the time too despite sleeping ALOT. Similar to your situation, I have to force myself to stay awake by drinking coffee. To make myself less tired, I tend to go on walks when I start feeling really sleepy as that freshen me ups, i try stay away from my bed as I know when I sit down I will fall asleep, i spend time with people more so that I'm not thinking about sleeping or else i do some work thats due in. However, when I feel tired as in dizzy and just weak I have a nap. A nap for an hour doesn't hurt and it really wakes you up. I'm not sure if you know but you can get tablets from the doctor which give u more energy.
I hope this helped and if you have any questions just message me!
@loveyourself90
Hi! Thank you for your response! I totally get what you mean when you say you keep yourself awake by drinking coffee! Unfortunately, coffee makes my heart beat too fast and it ends up giving me anxiety... :(
Maybe you're right, maybe I should allow myself to take a nap for maximum 1 hour. I'll try it next time I feel too tired. :)
I understand.