On insomnia
(1) Insomniacs are hypnotized by ideas
01
Medical research on sleep believes that the sleep needs of adults vary according to individual differences, with 9-10 hours for long sleep, 6-7 hours for medium sleep, and 4-5 hours for short sleep. However, in the concept of many people, they only sleep for 4 hours for a while, or have a single manifestation such as difficulty falling asleep, waking up early, light sleep, and dreaming, as suffering from insomnia. You can hear the complaints of insomniacs all the time -
A: Insomnia is not a disease, but it is worse than illness. So I'm most afraid of insomnia, but I didn't expect to be more afraid of what... It's been a month, and I can't sleep every night, and I'm dying of pain.
B: I've been suffering from insomnia for more than 10 years, and no sleeping pills or health care pills have worked for me... It can't be helped, it's really torturous.
C's conversation with her friend –
C: Recently, I've been suffering from insomnia every night.
Friend: What do you do every night when you have insomnia?
C: I didn't do anything, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep anymore, I'm lying in bed and thinking about it... I don't dare to take sleeping pills for fear of dependence.
Friend: How long can you sleep?
C: It's 4 hours at most, but I always have to sleep more than 7 hours, and I don't think I get enough sleep for less than 5 hours.
Friend: What does not sleep enough affect you, such as your body or work?
C: It's okay at the moment, but I'm worried that if I continue to have insomnia, it will definitely affect my appearance, my body and my work.
Friend: If you think that your insomnia and the cause of insomnia, such as some kind of stress, are two problems to be solved, which do you think is more important, or which one should be solved first?
C: The cause of insomnia? I don't think so, I do have pressure at work, but it's normal to be stressed, it's not a problem. Insomnia is annoying and must be solved first, because it has too much negative impact on health and quality of life.
Friend: You're saying that insomnia is the cause of all problems?
C: That's right.
02
The bitter complaints of insomniacs express their panic and resistance to insomnia.
People's need for sleep is determined by the body, but when people's minds become heavier and their minds become bigger, many things that should listen to the body's feelings are all controlled by the mind, and it is necessary to carefully predict the "right and wrong, risk" of things, and may not be able to make decisions. Listening to the complaints of insomniacs, it is their unique and paranoid understanding of sleep that determines insomnia, and their persistent resistance to not falling asleep contributes to the existence of insomnia.
Most insomniacs know the cause of their insomnia and try their best to treat insomnia, but to no avail. This in itself shows that the insomniac person does not know that his body does not need so much sleep, and that the important thing he does not know is that his efforts to resist insomnia make him hyper-satisfied.
Insomnia means being awake. However, insomniacs only feel "annoyed that I can't sleep" and do not feel "I'm annoyed when I'm awake". What are they doing when they're awake? They're sleeping, they're actually doing one important thing: fighting insomnia. However, people are engaged in complex, high-intensity mental work in bed.
It is not difficult to see that the insomnia's will forces him to go to bed to "sleep", and the insomniac's mindset forces him to enter a state of excitement to resist "insomnia".
03
When we observe things, we always interpret things with existing concepts or existing judgments, and in the process of interpretation, we naturally divide things into two parts: good or bad, safe or destroyed. But many things cannot be explained by good or bad.
If you have a strong inner feeling of what you are observing, it will be, but at the same time you will miss other information that does not support your point of view. When you are close to a certain memory content and related concepts, you will unconsciously be affected by the string of ideas aroused by this memory, and you will be infected, just like being hypnotized by some kind of force, you can only passively obey the "aroused concept associations", and you cannot see the existence of other truths.
An important part of the human thought process is the understanding of a relationship through words. Psychoanalysis tells us: "The idea of human consciousness contains the idea of concrete and the idea of words corresponding to it, while the idea of the unconscious is only the idea of things itself." In man's observation of things, the preconscious system (subconsciously) causes the excessive energy of this concrete idea by associating it with the verbal concept of the words corresponding to it." It is this kind of venting that gives rise to a higher organization in the psyche, which acts like a think tank and directs people's current mental activities.
04
The C above is so confused by "insomnia" that I can't fall asleep. Before going to bed every night, the intention of insomnia wanders in her mind like a ghost, constantly reminding her to be prepared for danger in times of peace: dark circles, old age, memory loss, premature aging, what should I do?
C didn't know that it was her insomnia that forced her to get nervous and fall into the obsessive thinking of "harm and anti-harm". For insomnia like C, various external pressures are only the cause of insomnia, and insomnia itself is not only the cause of their fear, but also the result of their interpretation of the relationship between insomnia and the body with words such as "obstacles, destruction, and shoulds". Although they are consciously afraid of insomnia, the unconscious reflects the fear of loss, a deep fear of loss of health, achievement, honor, etc. The symbolic meaning of insomnia is loss of control, so many people's fear of insomnia reflects the fear of losing control, the fear of losing control of everything that represents self-existence.
(2) How to treat insomnia
01
Since insomnia is not a disease, there is no cure for it. If you think of insomnia as a disease and understand what it means, it is a cure.
In the previous discussion, a number of responses have been presented. What man is afraid of, it is possible to find some truth in the object of his fear. For example, the fear of an incurable disease is basically an instinctive fear of death, or an unconscious desire for health and eternal life. The best strategy to cure the fear of hypochondriasis is to give up the illusion of health and eternal life, and accept that illness and death are the proper state of life's journey.
I am reminded of a story about a person who has been suffering from insomnia for more than 10 years and found a doctor who treats insomnia, and the doctor told her: If you want to cure your insomnia, you must listen to me, can you do it? The doctor said: From tonight for 3 consecutive days and nights, you can't sleep, even if you sleep, you can't fall asleep. On the third day, the patient went to the doctor and said: Doctor, I have let you down, I have to sleep after drinking strong tea for the past two nights, and I still fall asleep.
It's a joke, but it's a metaphor for the dynamic and hypnotic effects of belief.
02
If people are interested, you can observe those who have complained of insomnia for several years, or 10 years, that their health is actually very good and they are not sick;
Treating insomnia well is to be aware of what insomnia means to you? Maybe it's a symbol of your passion in life, but you're unconsciously suppressing a certain passion. Insomnia is a reminder that you don't need to delve into the relationship between it and health, but you need to think about what is the value of your life, how to use your energy, and what needs you need to release your passion for life?
03
Insomnia is a sign that you have a lingering concern in your life that needs to be resolved. You need to actually see them, to become aware of the underlying wishes, to actually solve or complete them.
Insomnia is a warning that you have a large degree of personality and thinking limitations. Do you want to choose to change, choose to learn and renew your ideas? A philosopher once said that if you sleep less than 2 hours a day, you will live 10 more years.
Sleep is a part of our lives, insomnia is also a part of life, you are against a part of yourself, you are against yourself. Therefore, if you want to save sleep, you will turn your enemies into friends with insomnia, and if you don't fight it, it won't offend you.