Case Study – Insomnia Triggered by Lockdown
When the pandemic first hit and we went into lockdown, many reported struggling with insomnia, triggered by either stress and anxiety due to the unusual situation, or as a result of contracting covid.
In fact, insomnia was such a common complaint during lockdown, research was even conducted into the matter, with one study showing the number of Britons suffering sleep loss caused by worrying rose from one in six, to one in four, as a direct result of the huge disruptions to people’s lives after restrictions began.
Michael found his sleep beginning to deteriorate during May 2020, in the height of lockdown, where he found himself sleeping 20 minutes a night for around three weeks, feeling broken and like a shell of his former self.
Michael says, “Nothing in particular started the insomnia, although I’m sure lockdown influenced it. One night I went to bed early because I felt a little unwell and I couldn’t fall asleep. This started a small amount of panic, which meant that the next night I tried to resolve the issue by going to bed early again, and eventually the cycle of a few early bedtimes followed by bad nights turned into a creeping sense of panic that I would never sleep again. In a way, it was insomnia-anxiety induced insomnia.”
Michael’s insomnia soon began to influence him negatively, making him feel terrified due to a complete lack of control. He says, “Physically, I was a zombie, but mentally the anxiety and panic just grew and grew. Those first 16 days of sleeping an hour a night at most culminated in a huge panic attack in the garden at 4am. I then travelled to my parents’ home to ‘reset’, which of course didn’t work, and that in itself caused further panic.”
The poor sleep and panic had a huge impact on Michael, leaving him feeling annoyed with himself, like a shell of the man he once was. He says, “I thought I was suddenly this unreliable, slow, boring person who was so far removed from who I used to be before sleep problems. I avoided social things, and making plans, whilst simultaneously hating the fact I was doing that. I felt so angry with myself for a long time because the problem felt self-inflicted. I felt as though it was me stopping me from sleeping, my brain and my anxiety.”
Turning to the internet for advice, Michael initially didn’t have much luck in resolving the problem, as he focused on sleep hygiene practices such as long baths, lavender, and audio tapes. However, he then came across The Insomnia Clinic following an online search.
Michael says, “I initially tried all the awful online sleep hygiene advice, which I now realise only builds sleep vigilance and in fact, I’m convinced, worsens the problems. Then I found The Insomnia Clinic. The Insomnia Clinic really worked for me because it took all the responsibility of not sleeping away from me and made me see that no amount of doing something, such as going on my phone before bed, was causing me not to sleep. The only thing I had to do was focus on changing my thoughts. The Insomnia Clinic is clear that there is no quick fix, but there is progress, and that again was a relief, because it allowed me to have slip ups and bad nights without feeling as though the whole thing was lost.”
So, what’s Michael’s advice for anyone struggling with their sleep? He says, “Share the burden with someone, because insomnia feels so bloody lonely. By its nature, you feel alone, because at its worst everyone else is sleeping when you are panicking and feeling as though it will never end. The best thing I have learnt from the clinic is that if I’m not sleeping or feeling an adrenaline rush, I should get up and go and enjoy doing something else. Adrenaline is metabolised so fast, that I can simply try to sleep again later.”
Since finding The Insomnia Clinic, Michael’s sleep has improved greatly, recently reporting that he’s slept well every night for nearly three months. He says, “I realise now that when other anxieties are heightened or my mind is particularly busy, I may have a bad night, but I now know that I WILL sleep again. It taught me emotionally that my body isn’t broken by insomnia, but I just needed to rewire my thoughts around sleep. I’ve learnt that sleep is always available to everyone, but that sometimes we have to put in the work to change how we’re thinking about it. I would recommend The Insomnia Clinic with all my heart to anyone struggling with sleep.
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