Something horrible has happened. You’ve either been through it or witnessed it and now you can’t sleep. Each night seems to be a replay of what happened and you wake with sweats or at least feeling scared and then you can’t go back to sleep.

You may not believe this, but this is a normal reaction to a traumatic stress event. Minds struggle mightily to deal with the horror of something beyond the normal life experiences. The mind does not just say “ok, it happened, now let’s just put it in this category of unpleasant things and get on with it.” Work with survivors of many kinds of traumatic events shows that Post Traumatic Stress reactions make the survivor often feel crazy or weak. Neither of those is true. However, you’ll need to take some positive action to have things change.

Insomnia is a huge problem for folks who have Post Traumatic Stress Reaction. It’s in the dark of night that the defenses against the terrible memories are at their lowest. If you are woken by the traumatic dreams, there is some immediate self help that you can do, and then you can get going with longer-term help during waking hours.

At night you can, first of all, remind yourself that you are Ok. You can get up and write in your journal which helps unload the thoughts and feelings that are occurring for you at the moment. Write a letter to someone you love - but don’t send it until you have reread it several times over the next day or two and are sure it’s a good thing to send. If you are in a support group discuss middle of the night coping and see if there are folks who would make agreements to allow phone calls for support when it’s just too hard to cope alone in the dark. Practice your self-quieting exercises that you have learned (relaxation techniques, meditation, or prayer). Tell yourself that it’s normal to feel this way even though it hurts a lot, and reassure yourself that you’re doing the best you can.

Talk to others

Talking about the event, over and over again, can help reduce it’s impact on your mind. If the people you live with get tired of hearing about it, find a support group or a counselor with whom to share your memories. This is a very important part of the healing. Getting information about the healing process of PTS and finding a good counselor is also very important.

Keep Your Relationships Healthy

The urge to withdraw and isolate yourself will be huge. Please do what you can to reach out to others, to keep the relationships you have alive and as healthy as possible. Other people are very important to your well-being, don’t forget that. If you don’t have many people in your life, you can start to establish new relationships by giving to others through community volunteering. This is a case in which you will get back more than you give, and all will benefit.

Exercise to Well-being

Keeping your body healthy is also a key factor. Exercise creates positive effects in your brain chemistry - it also makes your body feel better and it improves your sleep.

Learn Relaxation Techniques

There are many kinds of relaxation techniques. Learn them and practice them - they can be lifesavers.

Sleep Program Main Page

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