Why SLEEPINESS VANISHES the moment YOU go to bed (Insomnia Insight
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- Опубліковано 14 січ 2024
- In this Insomnia Insight episode, Coach Daniel explains one of the most puzzling and scary sleep related experiences: going from super sleepy to wide awake the moment you go to bed.
We call it The Houdini effect.
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Not sure where to start on your path to sleeping well? Check out these playlists!
This is natto - the perfect place to start learning!
• This is Natto - Start ...
Success stories - if you need hope and inspiration, this is for you.
• Success stories
Insomnia insight - a list of every single episode.
• Playlist
Talking insomnia - guests with trouble sleeping or experts share their stories / tips.
• Talking insomnia
Hypnic jerks, hypnic awareness and other common issues.
• Hypnic jerks and more.
Fatal insomnia - for those concerned about ffi and sfi.
• Familial and sporadic ...
Speed bumps - when you think you had a setback or “relapse.”
• Talking insomnia #55: ...
Unrefreshing sleep - when you always feel tired or exhausted.
• Unrefreshing sleep
Momsomnia - if you’re a mom or becoming a mom.
• Momsomnia
Heard online - when you’ve worried about claims made about health problems and insomnia.
• Heard online
Best!
This content does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or other qualified healthcare providers.
Timestamps
[00:00]🛌 Introduction to the Houdini Effect in Insomnia
- Exploring the phenomenon of feeling extremely sleepy but becoming wide awake when going to bed.
- Introduction to the concept of the Houdini Effect in the context of insomnia.
- Aim to understand and explain this common but puzzling experience.
[02:12] 🧠 Understanding the Brain's Response to Perceived Danger
- The brain's natural response to potential danger, causing wakefulness.
- Illustration of how the brain perceives wakefulness at night as a threat.
- Comparison of physical threats to perceived threats in causing alertness.
[04:19] 🤔 The Misidentification ofWakefulness as a Threat
- How insomnia is linked to the brain mistaking wakefulness for a threat.
- Discussion of the brain's reaction to the fear of not sleeping.
- Explanation of the physiological fight-or-flight response to perceived sleep threats.
[05:57] 📚 Education and Awareness as Solutions
- The role of education and awareness in reducing fear and insomnia.
- Understanding the Houdini Effect as a natural brain function, not a disorder.
- How fear reduction leads to a decrease in insomnia symptoms.
I initially had this problem and struggled for 8 months until I found this channel. I had 2 months of almost effortless sleep with the exception of an occasional rough night here and there. I started to feel like my old self again, but unfortunately that fear got restriggered and now I’m suddenly struggling again despite befriending wakefulness and knowing these things and that it’s all psychological. I can’t seem to get my brain to not focus on sleep. What can I do to get out of this slump?
I'm the same, although for the past year or two I have had long periods of sleeping well. Then, out of the blue, I suddenly start struggling with sleep again and the fear creeps in. If I can identify why I've stopped sleeping I can usually get back on track after 4-5 days. If I can't identify why I have stopped sleeping, then I get really fearful and panicky, which is what's happening to me now. The past 4 nights I have slept between 1 and 3 hours. When I go to bed I can barely keep my eyes open, then as soon as I turn out the light, I'm wide awake. Your videos are brilliant and have been really helpful and I know in my head that there is no need to worry about being awake but I can't seem to put what you have taught me into practice.
I call this insomnia residuals. This happens to me sometimes. Let’s say I am reading a book before going to sleep, I am sleepy, my eyelids are closing… so I go to the washroom one more time before going to sleep for the night and…boom wakefulness and I struggle to fall asleep. It’s like maintenance insomnia! I was feeling like I would not have onset insomnia but then I jump rigth away to maintenace insomnia coming back from the washroom, It’s really annoying, it does happen once in a while I accept it and realize, as per your teaching, that my brain still battles with leftover notions I have about falling and not-falling asleep. It gets better with time, I try not to stress about it too much when this happens. Thank you Coach Daniel.
As soon as bedtime approaches, I feel that nervousness is growing, I need a couple of cigarettes and it's as if I'm preparing to go to war instead of resting 😳
I feel the exact same way
Same
You’re seeing this really clearly, check Talking insomnia 33 with Riley, I think you’ll find the similarities really striking, and it helps to hear from someone who had the same approach and left the battlefield
@thesleepcoachschool8192 will check it now, thank you 🤗 Everything makes sense in my head, when I compare going to bed with my former attempts to go out (panic attacks and agoraphobia were severe years ago) it's exactly the same and no wonder why I feel so anxious- expectations of something challenging and hard in both cases are the same. Last few years I don't even think much when I'm going out because I'm confident and relaxed. Hope one day I'll manage to do the same with insomnia
@skipperne so glad it does 😊 and I have no doubt you’ll see the same path lead to freedom for this struggle, it’s the same for all of our inner struggles
I have experienced this so often. But now I will send my brain safety messages and soon I fall asleep. Before I would get aggravated, but now I’m more kind, gentle with myself. Practice. It takes practice. I’m applying this to my chronic pain too. Definitely TMS. My brain has been in overdrive. And when I practice safety, kindness to my body, my pain gets better. Great video as always Dr. Daniel ❤️I’m not where I wanna be yet, but I’m not where I use to be.
Monica! Thanks for being in touch and sharing these valuable insights and the support 🙏 One day we will explore more on how the same principles can help with so many things
I have insomnia, anxiety and chronic pai. I know they are all TMS, but it's such a struggle to convince my brain I am safe. I hope you get well soon.
When you're sleeping well - and you fall asleep or can't stay awak on the couch you move to the bed. You accept that this move wakes you up a little and delays the going back to sleep maybe a few minutes or 20. But you know it'll come.
Thank u for this! It's something that I'm very, very familiar with. Also, just wanted to shared that yesterday I learned the concept of "unconscious competence" and decided to combine that with your gas and brake model. I reframed my perspective from "I'm bad at sleeping" to "I'm really, really good at staying awake" and it helped me feel less negative somehow. I don't know whether it was the reframing, or something else, but last night I slept for 8+ hours (with some minor awakenings) for the first time in a year after a horrendous speed bump.
Anytime! And wow I’m so glad to hear about this magical moment 😊!
So much to learn from this, our brain naturally can go “aha, I’ve figured it out, as long as I combine unconscious competence with the gas and brake model I’ll sleep!” - and we try it again… and have trouble sleeping..
So we want to try to recreate magic:
More here -
ua-cam.com/video/4Y4KY9RbsA4/v-deo.htmlsi=DqfA73JABJBomL3q
Thanks for sharing!
Great video. What would be the inner work for this?
Thanks! I think it’s about self exploration, “aha, this is the normal way the brain works when it’s been confused… I can be willing to experience this… and when I’m not, then I can be kind to myself”
Thank you for a very timely video for myself. I started to struggle with sleep around Thanksgiving. A few bad nights when traveling threw me into an anxious loop. Hypnic jerks and hyper arousal were my biggest enemy and I did everything wrong the first couple weeks. Trying sleep pills, all the sleep hygiene, etc. If I knew then what I've since learned and practiced with your videos, app, and book, I probably would have never fallen for all this in the first place. However, even with a good handle and understanding of where I need to be now, I'm not back to sleeping normal quite yet. I do find that I am taking 1-2 hours to fall asleep most nights, likely related to this Houdini effect. I'll be dozing off on the couch, climb into bed, and I'm awake! Once I fall asleep, I tend to do well and handle evening awakenings ok. It's that initial onset sleep I am still struggling with. I've tried to befriend wakefulness and I've certainly survived several bad nights just fine to know I no longer need to be afraid of them. But I'm still not where I need to be. The hypnic jerks had been gone for awhile, but returned recently on some nights. I still obviously have some anxiety surrounding all this and I'm struggling to kick it despite having the knowledge I feel I need.
I'm not sure if I should be pushing bed time later and trying to increase sleepiness even more to fight this. I worry though that may just delay this Houdini effect. Would appreciate any thoughts, thanks for all you do!
So glad it was timely 😊! And you know, it’s all about intent, if we do something to try to manipulate sleep or fear or Houdini effect, we maintain the idea that we should try to escape some perceived threat. When we no longer change things with this intent, fears fade 😊
I have experienced the Houdini effect for a long stretch of time, but thankfully no longer do. On a lighter note….I have a cat named Houdini. 😊
How did you get rid of it?
Asking the same question as above… how did you get rid of it?
How did you get rid of it ? I have been suffering for a long time
That’s an amazing name for a cat 😊!!! And so glad to read these. For Lillian, Hannah and Ravneet - Edda really studied our content here and when it sinks in… things get easier. It’s about seeing that when we try to get rid of fear or an experience from fear… it’s amplified, when we no longer try to get rid of it, it fades
Yes, just as Daniel said. It took a lot of education and learning to think differently about all the aspects of insomnia. It no longer has such a strong grip on me.
I’ve been suffering with insomnia since last June and the Houdini effect is what happens 85% of the time. However , there have also been many nights where I remain calm despite having those “ what if “ thoughts and I adopt a positive mindset as much as I can that I will be able to sleep tonight since I’m so tired. Even those nights I go to bed exhausted and don’t feel adrenaline going on - I still can’t fall asleep for hours and hours. Why ?😪😪
Hang in there Ravneet, we call this the wonder wall, check insomnia insight 510
I’m really struggling with this. Even with all of the knowledge and education. I logically know now exactly what’s happening so I’m not scared that something is wrong with me anymore.
So when does it start to feel less scary? I still feel so nervous every time I go to bed, not knowing what the night is going to bring. I get in bed and try to stay neutral and let it be, but then it’s like my body is so exhausted but my brain just feels like there’s a light switch on. I can’t shut it off. If I could just get past this part, I feel like my insomnia would go away.
Hang in there Hanna, it just takes a while until our brain fully sees we are safe, even when we understand on a logical level… your willingness to learn leads to where the fear fades
Hello, these two and a half weeks have been difficult when it comes to sleep, I had days when I didn't sleep, others when I slept and woke up every two hours, oh two days I had the best night of these 2 weeks where I slept for 6 hours straight and then woke up and I managed to sleep an extra 1 hour, in the first week I felt very anxious (chest pains)(palpitations) (numb left arm) (fatigue), because I didn't sleep during these weeks, I'm honest, I researched a lot about not sleeping and I ended up come across expectaodic fatal insomnia
which may have made me more scared, anxious and paranoid, this week I started having mild spasms and slight eye twitching (more on the left one) I'm taking 2 valdispert before bed and I take vitamins to help with this problem, not today I slept and I'm not sleepy and I'm still afraid of having this disease, damn it when I read about it.
Hang in there, hope the content here will help. Rooting for you
I listened to your videos but the fear is stilll here I guess since I can’t sleep … I feel hopeless if all this knowledge could not help me beat fear … sometimes I dont feel fear but apprehension whether I am gonna sleep or not and I think no matter how your learn you will always have this apprehension and the thought of « am I going to sleep tonight » is the goal here to be fearless to a point t where you don’t even experience a thought of « am I going to sleep » cause it is impossible
I hear you, and I understand how frustrating it can be. We're here for you and glad that you found our content. Remember, you're not alone in this journey, and seeking support is a positive step.