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Daily Discussion Thread: 😴 Tuesday, 7 January, 2025
(aussie.zone)
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I had a terrible time trying to get to sleep last night (for the people who have already slept: Sunday night). I couldn't shut my mind down, and I kept having flashbacks to a few years ago, not long after I'd been moved to Melbourne. They weren't traumatic per se, but I felt EXACTLY the same as I was in the moment. The helplessness, terror, anxiety, dread, loneliness, panicI don't know what brought it up but it was really shitty. I put on a YouTube video which is my usual approach to dealing with those thoughts (even though this was a lot more extreme than usual), and I stopped thinking about it, but I got really bad vertigo and dizziness and I think I was hallucinating. I could just about see blue lights swinging around even though I had my eyes closed and light off. Phone screen was off and upside down so it wasn't that, and there was no light in my room
Now I'm kind of feeling a little scared to sleep again. Well, not scared exactly, more so dreading it. The emotional response it all brought up was awful, and I don't want to have to deal with it again
Hey - hugs. That's shithouse. I have had similar nights and it's exhausting and makes it very hard to rest. Especially when you are finally safe and your brain decides "hey are we safe now? Cool, I can start to process some of this old junk!!" Like, no man, give me a break for just a moment.
Sharing only so you don't think you are alone or that this is something forever - it will settle (noting everyone has different traumas and timescales). And so I can share a couple of triage things that have helped me.
I know you did not ask for advice or help, so hope it's ok to share. Hopefully it settles down soon and you can rest.
I hope tonight is a better night for you Baku <3
So many hugs.
This is exactly what having a night terror is. It's an involuntary reliving through dreams of the emotional memory of a traumatic event and we live it as if it is real.
It's just a dream, it isn't real. It's your brain trying to cope with bad events from the past.
Try not to get too tired as over tiredness makes night terrors more likely.
Emotional flashbacks are a real thing and trauma symptoms absolutely ramp up once you’re out of a situation/things become quieter.
I’m sorry dude, if you think seeing someone might help you could probably use the extra support. (But keep in mind not everyone clicks or has a useful approach for trauma so shop around.) Maybe try the Blue Knot Foundation or see if you can get some sessions funded through victims of crime. Berry st cuts off after 17 and waiting periods might mean becoming ineligible but give it a go https://www.berrystreet.org.au/what-we-do/trauma-services/therapeutic-services-for-children-young-people-and-families
Ps. Seeing the blue with closed eyes is due to phosphenes. There’s all this scary stuff on the internet but it doesn’t necessarily mean that anything scary or abnormal is happening. It’s a thing during meditation and might be more common under stress or with sleep disorders. Vertigo and dizziness are common in anxiety. It’s also possible to hear things as you’re falling asleep or waking, ie. hypnagogic hallucinations. This also may be more common under stress or with sleep disorders. Just in case those pieces of info are reassuring.