Dream a Little Dream

Dreams sound like such a lovely thing. I remember spending many of my sleepless years envious of those who could dream. Because dreaming means sleep. And sleep means happiness. That was the equation in my head anyway; when there were no dreams with insomnia because I did not sleep.

But I sleep now. And sometimes I dream. And they're not always happy.

Why I can finally sleep now

I sleep now because I have addressed sleep hygiene principles, done a lot of cognitive behavioral therapy to deal with anxiety, and I take regular sleep medications because my body will not sleep unaided. That is just something I have had to accept. And I realize I am fortunate because there are people who have done all those things and still do not sleep.

Without sleep hygiene and meds, I do not sleep at all. Chronic, debilitating insomnia caused my mental health to shatter into a million little pieces and my life became a living nightmare.

That was then, this is now.

My dreams with regular sleep

I find with regular sleep, I now have dreams. The most vivid dreams are those I have in the morning after I’ve woken early and then I start dozing again. Dreaming happens most frequently during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. But can happen at any stage of the sleep cycle.

For the most part, I have obscure weird little dreams. Occasionally they’re very happy and very occasionally, they’re miserable.

Therapy helped calm my days and lead to calmer nights

For some people, nightmares are a sleep-time reality. Real-life trauma can manifest into nighttime terrors. I have been through periods of nightmares where I became afraid to go to sleep because I knew what was coming.

For me, this time passed. The smoother my daytime life goes, the smoother my night times. The psychological therapies I have done over many years have taught me to be calmer during the day and I believe this has paid off at night. I am calmer then too.

Conscious daydreaming before sleep helps

I go to sleep every night with conscious daydreaming – where I choose to create a vivid waking dream that is joyful. Each night, I fall asleep with those emotional aftermaths. The dreams I have during the night are calmer and cheerier.

When life brings me situations that are out of my control I can slip into panicky thoughts and then my dream life is prone to more stressful scenarios. I wake sweaty and distressed. When this happens, I then try to remember to relax and do the conscious daydreaming thing again.

My meds and morning dreams

As someone who is on sleep medications for life, I am conscious of the effect they have on both my body and mind. Medically induced sleep is not the same as natural sleep, but it is an awful lot better than no sleep.

I believe the reason my early morning dozing dreams are most vivid is because my medication has almost worn off and that is as close as I get to natural sleep.

A bonus from treating insomnia

Dreaming makes me feel normal. People talk about dreams they’ve had – the weird, wonderful, and whacky scenarios that our unconscious brains can whip up. Before I slept I did not dream. Now I am rested and filled with vivid imaginings. Sometimes they’re frightful but mostly they’re good.

Dreams are 1 of the bonuses that have come my way since my chronic insomnia was finally addressed and treated. I hope you too are dreaming my friend.

Do you experience dreams with insomnia? Please share a comment.