Contents
Hello dear readers of the site! Hypnophobia (clinophobia, somniphobia) is a pathological fear of sleep, i.e. sleep and not wake up. Let’s figure out where it comes from and how to overcome this fear.
What is it?
Have you seen the movie Nightmares on Elm Street? It covers exactly this topic. The heroes were afraid to go to bed, as Freddy Krueger came to them in a dream and tried to kill them.
Accordingly, the innocent victims were in a state of exhaustion. Exactly the same situation is with hypnophobes.
They gradually lose their resources, the body is not able to function for a long time without recovery. Why absolutely all organs and systems suffer, provoking the occurrence of chronic diseases, and in some cases deadly.
Quite often, this type of phobia is just a symptom of the manifestation of completely different phobias. For example, the fear of being buried alive, which is also called taphophobia, or the fear of death itself, thanatophobia.
Accordingly, in order to improve your well-being and find peace, you should deal with the root cause, and not its consequence.
Evidence
The symptoms of somniphobia are similar to those of other types of phobias. That is, at the moment of panic, legs, hands, lips begin to tremble. It takes your breath away and even hurts your heart.
Consciousness narrows, in terms of adequately assessing and perceiving the surrounding reality, a person is not able to. He is only interested in the subject of fear and thoughts about how to be saved, to feel safe.
Disturbs the stomach, then colic, then diarrhea. In some cases, from a strong fright, he loses consciousness, and when he comes to, he is even more frightened, since he lost control and vigilance at that moment.
Despite the weather and the temperature in the room, profuse sweating begins. Throws in a fever, causing the face to turn red. This gives rise to high blood pressure.
There is a catastrophic lack of air, this is how a panic attack manifests itself. You just need to breathe carbon dioxide into your palms, which is released on exhalation, and the dizziness will pass.
You can learn more about other signs here.
Causes
Fear of death
In fact, when a person falls asleep, he ceases to control himself and seems to fall into another world, where he encounters something unreal, fantasy and mystical.
As if it ceases to exist, as at the onset of death, the body is there, but the consciousness is turned off.
Therefore, if such associations arise, how can you lie down and close your eyes, relaxing?
Intrusive pictures with a funeral, thoughts about the afterlife, and so on, will definitely appear in your head. I want to do at least something, just to stop this flow of ideas.
Health status
The need to go to bed causes a lot of anxiety in people with cardiovascular diseases, as well as who have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.
As a result of this violation, the muscles of the pharynx relax so much that for about 10-15 seconds a person stops breathing. Then he takes another breath, slow, deep, but there is a high risk that this will not happen.
By the way, people who snore are also at risk. Since in addition to causing anxiety, it also provokes the occurrence of this apnea.
In these cases, the probability of dying in a dream is quite high, so the phobia is considered quite reasonable and requires urgent intervention from specialists.
Characteristics of character
It is quite difficult for some to take it like that, and stop controlling the surrounding reality, themselves. After all, falling asleep means for them to lose vigilance, to become vulnerable. Therefore, such people usually rest in fits and starts, alternating sleep and wakefulness.
Also, impressionable personalities, after watching a scary movie, then cannot find a place for themselves. Every time they go to bed, they will remember the terrible moments that hit them. Until it comes to phobia.
By the way, if a close friend or family member is afraid to fall asleep and not wake up, in connection with which, he shares with all his life stories, excerpts from newspapers about the likely consequences of apnea, and so on. Then the one who often has to intersect with him can be «infected» with fear.
Genetic memory
Our ancestors gave us the so-called genetic code. That is, information that provided them with the safety of life.
In a given period of time, it may not be relevant, but it will still make itself felt at the subconscious level, in the form of fears.
In the case of clinophobia, a person must be on his guard at night, as predatory animals hunt, and he risks becoming easy prey.
Yes, and the enemies are not asleep, they know when the enemy loses vigilance and loses strength, which is why they also prefer to attack when it gets dark and the moon appears in the sky.
Psychological trauma
An accident that occurred while a person was sleeping may well provoke the development of hypnophobia.
For example, when a fire suddenly started, and you had to flee in the middle of the night. Or some natural disaster, an earthquake or a flood that destroyed the house and brought a lot of deaths of familiar people, just neighbors.
Such events cause post-traumatic stress syndrome, if abbreviated, then PTSD. And one of its main symptoms is insomnia and the inability to relax.
Especially during the flashback. This is such a phenomenon in which a person seems to fall back into a traumatic situation, feeling the same feelings that they had then.
He also experiences auditory and visual hallucinations. It is impossible to predict such a flashback, which is why the body is in constant tension and anticipation of danger.
Nightmares
Have you ever had such a terrible dream that for some time you were afraid even to close your eyes? And it happens that a person is tormented by nightmares literally every night.
This is if he ignores his emotions, tried to force important, but soul-injuring events into the subconscious. In general, trying to get rid of what bothers.
So, it’s scary to fall asleep, realizing that terrible pictures await ahead. For example, some deceased relative comes every night not at all in calm dreams, but scares, threatens to take him with him. How can you calmly close your eyes, anticipating the rest?
Living in a risk area
When you have to live in a zone of military conflict or simply an increased risk, from where evacuation is required or recommended, it is impossible to lie down and sleep peacefully.
The probability of dying from an explosion, any natural phenomenon is too high. Why anxiety is considered a completely adequate reaction of a healthy psyche.
For example, when the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant happened, doctors often began to receive complaints of insomnia and nightmares. Even from those who were geographically too far away and not exposed to radiation.
The feeling of security is violated regardless of whether one had to become a victim or a witness to a tragedy.
Someone else’s sudden death is a reminder of how fragile we really are and unable to withstand terrible events. That is, vulnerable, powerless and dependent on external circumstances.
And such an awareness is very difficult to come by, you don’t want to put up with it. Therefore, living in the risk zone, the person will be in, so to speak, combat readiness.
Echoes of childhood
Most of our problems come from childhood, it is no longer a secret to anyone. It’s just that the child’s psyche displaces some facts for the purpose of protection, which is why later in adult life a person cannot understand where some phobias and so on came from.
So, if the child suffered from enuresis, that is, did not control the process of urination when he was sleeping and was punished for each “miss”, then later he will go to bed with anxiety. Since he will be afraid that he will blunder again and receive a thrashing. Or they will laugh at him.
It happens that parents arrange scandals in front of the child. This affects his well-being. Since, being frightened, the baby then cannot fall asleep for a long time.
Anxiety grows, and he simply begins to listen to every sound in the future, checking whether they are quarreling again or not. Instead of resting at the right time.
Aftermath
At night, hormones are produced in the human body, which can be safely considered vital. For example, sexual, due to the lack of which the potency in men decreases, and in women the menstrual cycle is disturbed.
Or cortisol, which helps to cope with stress and nervous tension. With its lack, efficiency decreases, a person becomes anxious, irritable. In general, insomnia has a very negative effect on health.
Depression and asthenia also occur. Which may well lead to attempts to commit suicide. Since, along with energy and health, interest in everything that used to please is also lost.
Due to a decrease in concentration, and lack of sleep, irritability, close relationships collapse, problems appear at work. In general, absolutely all spheres of life suffer.
A hypnophobe against the background of such a state simply stops leaving the house, limits contact with the outside world. And this ends with its complete degradation and even the emergence of other types of mental disorders.
For more information about what depression is and how to deal with it, you will learn from the article dedicated directly to this topic.
Treatment
Treatment should be carried out immediately, as soon as the first symptoms of a phobia appear. Against the background of lack of sleep, health collapses at lightning speed, so waiting for a miracle to happen and everything to change on its own is extremely dangerous.
Be sure to contact a psychotherapist. With its help, you will restore your emotional state, deal with the causes of the phobia, and learn how to calm down in a short period of time.
It also doesn’t hurt to consult a psychiatrist. Or rather, it will be very helpful. Because he will prescribe you medications that will not only relieve anxiety, improve your well-being and mood, but also restore a healthy, full sleep without nightmares.
There is no need to worry about being «closed» in a psychiatric clinic. Hypnophobia is a disorder that requires medical attention, but if a person does not harm others and himself, then he may well do without hospitalization.
Completion
Finally, I would like to recommend you an article about the name of the fear of women, and why it occurs. And also how to overcome the horror at the sight of horses.
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And that’s all for today! Take care of yourself, stay healthy and sleep well!
The material was prepared by a psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Zhuravina Alina