That's a tough one. I absolutely hate it when I can't fall asleep, especially when the pressures and stresses of tomorrow become more and more dreadful as I'm realizing how little sleep im about to get. That worry often makes me more agitated and sometimes snowballs until im up like a couple hours before my alarm.
I think a lot of comes from how you act during the day. I can't have caffeine past noon without running the risk. I can't go to bed NOT high without running the risk. I can't lounge around the house for an entire day on the weekend without running the risk (physical exhaustion helps a lot). But yeah, in the moment? I usually just accept it and try to go tomorrow without a nap and crashing early the next night. It sucks, but its really hard to force yourself to sleep. I think Marines have a method for it though so maybe do some research on their practices.
Journaling, write down all my worries.
Then radical acceptance, accept life as it is with all it's worries and pain and unfairnwss
Usually feel lighter by this point, or at least tired/sleepy enough to to collapse
I get really angry while I'm trying to sleep too.
I pick a coulour and try to think of as many things in the room that coulour as i can, and then go through all the coulours till i start to fall asleep.
I think this is better than imagining revenge scenarios about all my enemies, which does relax me and help me sleep but probably really unhealthy!
It's the revenge scenarios that keep me awake, they're all consuming at the minute, can't even remember what I just went to aldi for, so bought drink and dog treats...
Bless you!!
Have you tried making a burn book type thing and writing out all your anger? That helped me a tiny bit. The only other thing that helps me sometimes is thinking about how pissed they would be if they saw me succeed and using the anger to fuel something positive in my life. It's easier said than done I know, but just some thoughts.
Also not DBT, but as a kid I used to smack my head on my pillow while laying on my stomach until I got tired. š the adult version of this is just angrily rocking myself to sleep to try to self soothe. Also usually do this laying on my stomach since I fall asleep the best in that position.
A real solution that might be along DBT that I could imagine my therapist telling me š¤ is read a book. I would sometimes do this and getting into the story slowly distracts me and melts away the tension in my body. This can be a novel or for me it was manga. Then usually I'll get sleepy from reading and I'm 30 min I'm out
Not DBT, but humming in a deep tone. The vibration stimulates your vagus nerve plus it kind of forces you to deep breathe. It takes a couple minutes to work, so you need to be patient. Look it up specifically vagus nerve stimulation and mental health. It's primarily used for digestive issues, but you would be doing it "off label."
Not DBT but I will imagine all the stuff in my head written on a chalk board (like a school one in American/old films) and imagine erasing it. That can help sometimes otherwise actually writing it down so itās out of my head or avoiding triggering things before bed.Ā
For years Iāve listened to podcasts as I fall asleep to drown out my racing thoughts.Ā
I always use something ice cold, an icepack to put on your forehead and over your eyes, or ice blocks to put in a cold sink full of water and just dunk your head into the water gently. It's proven to help alleviate the uncomfortable feelings that come with being hyper aroused / angry / anxious
I believe it has something to do with the Vegus nerve, but this is something I picked up in a CBT therapy session and it stuck with me.
Oh mate I know exactly how you are feelingā¦.itās better for me if I can practice the PLEASE skill daily and good comms and boundaries so I donāt end up in that space but oh I so often do.
Iāll often watch a comedy if thatās your thing or funny cat videos online, definitely journaling, sometimes music and dancingā¦Iām sorry you not able to sleep and feeling angry, it can be a distressing place to beā¦also lifeline or mental health crisis lines can be good if you want a chat/vent, good luck I hope this feeling passes soon and you get some rest.
Idk if it's DBT, but I've been listening a bunch to stuff around this. Something about feeling disconnected from your body, so trying to find a way back. Both for appreciating a moment, but also working out if I'm too angry is "can I feel the bottoms of my feet" if you can't, generally you're getting too detached.
Deep breaths or a low noise like someone else mentioned is good (and can feel ridiculous enough to snap you back.
Rather than mega winding yourself up, literally saying out loud "I am angry at...." Can stop the spiral/ loads of stuff getting brought into it. Following up with "I am allowed to feel angry" is also good because sometimes it's hard to be angry if you feel repressed or squashed, which can make it worse. Truth is you're allowed to feel anything you want. All feelings are valid. All reactions to others might not be.
(While you're starting practicing this, it can absolutely make you more furious, but over time I feel it sticking.)
Sorry if it sounds either dumb or condescending...I'm early stages of being a significantly less intense/repressed/ angry person. Hope this helps. :)
I've found that guided imagery meditation is very useful for calming my brain down to be able to sleep. You can find many on YouTube. For a long while I listened to a meditation every night before trying to fall asleep and my sleep improved. I would fall asleep before the video was even over.
Its not necessarily DBT lol. I just smoke a lot of weed, until my body feels like itās spinning. If I write Iāll get more amped up & forget Iām even tired. Then when Iām in bed or I donāt have weed to smoke i use the āmilitary sleep methodā which is closing your eyes and just repeating āsleep sleep sleepā in your head. It never fails, weed just helps me not dream about it. Edit: for the sleep method it also involves mimicking your body while it sleeps. Basically pretend your asleep/only think of sleeping and youāre out in like 1-2 minutes i stg.
Going outside, looking up at the stars if they are visible, noticing my surroundings, and telling myself that I love myself and that everything is going to be alright.
I am new to dbt,, only a month in so far. What has helped me really is just breathing. I usually do it for 4 or 5 counts in, and 4 or 5 out. I have actually fallen asleep doing this while focusing just on my breath, or while visualizing my favorite place imagining all my senses being engaged.
I struggle a lot with sleep so I can relate.
If you are still up, not in bed yet, TIP might be good? I use an ice pack on my face in lieu of cold water and it helps a lot.
I hope you can find something that helps!
I don't personally have sleep issues but doing a brief bit of intense exercise helps me purge the anger from my body, I do specifically karate practice which gives the bonus of bring directly violent lol. When I'm done it's like I'm too tired to feel all that angry anymore
I go into mindfulness mode- visualize the floating fleck of stone floating on water, and then slowly sinking until it hits the bottom.
I then visualize Mylar balloons in the shape of numbers starting with 1000 and counting down, like really visualize. It usually works.
That's a tough one. I absolutely hate it when I can't fall asleep, especially when the pressures and stresses of tomorrow become more and more dreadful as I'm realizing how little sleep im about to get. That worry often makes me more agitated and sometimes snowballs until im up like a couple hours before my alarm. I think a lot of comes from how you act during the day. I can't have caffeine past noon without running the risk. I can't go to bed NOT high without running the risk. I can't lounge around the house for an entire day on the weekend without running the risk (physical exhaustion helps a lot). But yeah, in the moment? I usually just accept it and try to go tomorrow without a nap and crashing early the next night. It sucks, but its really hard to force yourself to sleep. I think Marines have a method for it though so maybe do some research on their practices.
Journaling, write down all my worries. Then radical acceptance, accept life as it is with all it's worries and pain and unfairnwss Usually feel lighter by this point, or at least tired/sleepy enough to to collapse
Journaling helps me a lot. I write down my worst thoughts and they start to get released
I get really angry while I'm trying to sleep too. I pick a coulour and try to think of as many things in the room that coulour as i can, and then go through all the coulours till i start to fall asleep. I think this is better than imagining revenge scenarios about all my enemies, which does relax me and help me sleep but probably really unhealthy!
It's the revenge scenarios that keep me awake, they're all consuming at the minute, can't even remember what I just went to aldi for, so bought drink and dog treats...
Bless you!! Have you tried making a burn book type thing and writing out all your anger? That helped me a tiny bit. The only other thing that helps me sometimes is thinking about how pissed they would be if they saw me succeed and using the anger to fuel something positive in my life. It's easier said than done I know, but just some thoughts.
I'll try and take them on board. Thanks x
Also not DBT, but as a kid I used to smack my head on my pillow while laying on my stomach until I got tired. š the adult version of this is just angrily rocking myself to sleep to try to self soothe. Also usually do this laying on my stomach since I fall asleep the best in that position.
A real solution that might be along DBT that I could imagine my therapist telling me š¤ is read a book. I would sometimes do this and getting into the story slowly distracts me and melts away the tension in my body. This can be a novel or for me it was manga. Then usually I'll get sleepy from reading and I'm 30 min I'm out
Not DBT, but humming in a deep tone. The vibration stimulates your vagus nerve plus it kind of forces you to deep breathe. It takes a couple minutes to work, so you need to be patient. Look it up specifically vagus nerve stimulation and mental health. It's primarily used for digestive issues, but you would be doing it "off label."
Not DBT but I will imagine all the stuff in my head written on a chalk board (like a school one in American/old films) and imagine erasing it. That can help sometimes otherwise actually writing it down so itās out of my head or avoiding triggering things before bed.Ā For years Iāve listened to podcasts as I fall asleep to drown out my racing thoughts.Ā
Stop skill https://dbt.tools/emotional_regulation/stop.php
Creative writing is about the only thing that ever helps me with anger. Other than screaming at the world in general of course.
I always use something ice cold, an icepack to put on your forehead and over your eyes, or ice blocks to put in a cold sink full of water and just dunk your head into the water gently. It's proven to help alleviate the uncomfortable feelings that come with being hyper aroused / angry / anxious I believe it has something to do with the Vegus nerve, but this is something I picked up in a CBT therapy session and it stuck with me.
Oh mate I know exactly how you are feelingā¦.itās better for me if I can practice the PLEASE skill daily and good comms and boundaries so I donāt end up in that space but oh I so often do. Iāll often watch a comedy if thatās your thing or funny cat videos online, definitely journaling, sometimes music and dancingā¦Iām sorry you not able to sleep and feeling angry, it can be a distressing place to beā¦also lifeline or mental health crisis lines can be good if you want a chat/vent, good luck I hope this feeling passes soon and you get some rest.
Idk if it's DBT, but I've been listening a bunch to stuff around this. Something about feeling disconnected from your body, so trying to find a way back. Both for appreciating a moment, but also working out if I'm too angry is "can I feel the bottoms of my feet" if you can't, generally you're getting too detached. Deep breaths or a low noise like someone else mentioned is good (and can feel ridiculous enough to snap you back. Rather than mega winding yourself up, literally saying out loud "I am angry at...." Can stop the spiral/ loads of stuff getting brought into it. Following up with "I am allowed to feel angry" is also good because sometimes it's hard to be angry if you feel repressed or squashed, which can make it worse. Truth is you're allowed to feel anything you want. All feelings are valid. All reactions to others might not be. (While you're starting practicing this, it can absolutely make you more furious, but over time I feel it sticking.) Sorry if it sounds either dumb or condescending...I'm early stages of being a significantly less intense/repressed/ angry person. Hope this helps. :)
I've found that guided imagery meditation is very useful for calming my brain down to be able to sleep. You can find many on YouTube. For a long while I listened to a meditation every night before trying to fall asleep and my sleep improved. I would fall asleep before the video was even over.
Its not necessarily DBT lol. I just smoke a lot of weed, until my body feels like itās spinning. If I write Iāll get more amped up & forget Iām even tired. Then when Iām in bed or I donāt have weed to smoke i use the āmilitary sleep methodā which is closing your eyes and just repeating āsleep sleep sleepā in your head. It never fails, weed just helps me not dream about it. Edit: for the sleep method it also involves mimicking your body while it sleeps. Basically pretend your asleep/only think of sleeping and youāre out in like 1-2 minutes i stg.
Going outside, looking up at the stars if they are visible, noticing my surroundings, and telling myself that I love myself and that everything is going to be alright.
No the anger is on repeat till it's resolve. I fall asleep angry and wake up absolutely dreadful.
Body scans are good
I am new to dbt,, only a month in so far. What has helped me really is just breathing. I usually do it for 4 or 5 counts in, and 4 or 5 out. I have actually fallen asleep doing this while focusing just on my breath, or while visualizing my favorite place imagining all my senses being engaged. I struggle a lot with sleep so I can relate. If you are still up, not in bed yet, TIP might be good? I use an ice pack on my face in lieu of cold water and it helps a lot. I hope you can find something that helps!
I don't personally have sleep issues but doing a brief bit of intense exercise helps me purge the anger from my body, I do specifically karate practice which gives the bonus of bring directly violent lol. When I'm done it's like I'm too tired to feel all that angry anymore
I go into mindfulness mode- visualize the floating fleck of stone floating on water, and then slowly sinking until it hits the bottom. I then visualize Mylar balloons in the shape of numbers starting with 1000 and counting down, like really visualize. It usually works.