Insomnia Dreams

This is part of a series of postings on self-healing, which you can access via the "Self-Healing" tag which appears in the Slog’s left margin below "Popular Entries".


I have a theory about chronic insomnia - the kind that lasts for weeks or months. It's rarely actual insomnia. Instead, it's a dream of insomnia. We are not insomniac in bed. We're insomniac in a dream. While sleeping.

There's a way to check. If you're a chronic insomniac, next time you feel unable to sleep (after having laid still for a good while, and without a racing mind occupied with daily life issues), try to find your arms. As often as not, you will need to forcibly remind yourself where they are. You will need to reconstitute them.

The observation may not seem to offer much pragmatic help, but try this reframing which works for all sorts of insomnia:

Grant permission for some trusted, benevolent entity to whisk you and your bed elsewhere. You don't need to know where, or observe the journey. Swaddled comfortably in blankets, surrender control of the process and let it happen while you sleep. "Take me wherever," like the mindset of a trusting toy poodle stuffed into its owner's satchel.


This may explain why many people insist they get zero sleep but don't suffer from the expected health effects. They might be irritable or drowsy (from the anxiety of it), but do not present as never-sleepers

Other postings on Insomnia