My distractions don't work anymore:(

[Sarah]

Hello everyone hope your all okay!

Well DD hasn't been going too well lately. Today I DD for like 3 hours before I woke up in the morning and I have a horrible headache, feeling sick and dizzy. I'm so tired too because I didn't sleep well last night.

I wanted to talk about things I do to stop myself from DDing. I only have 2 distractions.

1. reading

2.talking to my friend

So morning and night is when I DD the most but everyone needs sleep so its not as if I can do something about that:P I tried reading and it actually worked for a couple of nights. I still would DD but because I was so tired I would actually fall asleep and I would only DD for about 10-15 minutes. But lately its like I can't be bothered reading any more, my mind it like whispers to me "come on lets DD, its more interesting than the book" and because I read on my phone I hate staring at the screen and I feel like I'll make my eyesight even worse than it is. Also not all chapters are that interesting so I find myself wandering off and then I have to re-read what I just read because I wasn't concentrating.

Sometimes I will talk with my friend at night. She knows about my DD, I only told her when I actually came across the name for DD. Then when I'm really tired, I'll tell her I'm off and we'll talk tomorrow. But then my mind starts to DD and I'm like "but I thought you were tired" LOL I talk to myself most times. So then I just let myself DD because I'm so tired to fight it off and just wait until sleep comes to me.

I've suffered from sleep paralysis for some years now. If you're not familiar with this condition then read this. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/02/sleep-paralysis

A couple of nights ago it was really bad, I had a headache and on top of that I had to suffer from sleep paralysis. I had been DDing and had no control over it, I just let it take over. I was so scared because I was falling asleep and that's when it started also something weird happened I had gone to my window and was trying to open the window and one of my characters from my DD was touching my hand! It freaked me out. But I hadn't gone physically to my window so I don't know what was going on there.

Anyways, finally it went and I started shouting to myself in my head, telling myself to stop DDing and to just sleep. I was concentrating so hard on just sleep and when I found myself drifting into DD, I would snap out of it. I was so angry a myself and that night was so tiring and exhausting mentally but eventually I fell asleep.

So now I don't know what else to do at night to distract myself. With books most times I just want to skip the boring parts an I can't make my friend stay up until like 3 in the morning just to help me out. I feel bad for using my friend, she's my only close friend and this is how I treat her. I hate myself so much sometimes.

So what do you do at night to distract yourself?

[Wish Upon A Wish]

I've read so many things to help with sleep, including reading a not-too thrilling, edge-of-the-seat book before bed. But one big thing is, if possible, avoid ANY screens before bed, TV, computer, iPhone etc. A lot of people say for 1 hour, and it does make a difference, but 3 hours is best.

I've heard some people on here suggest that if you have problems sleeping due to Compulsive Fantasy, you should try to DD about something relaxing, not something that's get you excited or get adrenaline up or anything like that.

[Sarah]

@ Angela E thanks for the tips, I'll try some out:)

[Angela E]

I always daydream a lot right before sleep too!  Most of the time I'm so tired that I fall asleep anyway, even if I really want to stay up and finish part of my DD.  But there are several things that help me not DD before bed when I don't want to.

First, a lot of times we will lay down much earlier than we intend to sleep, because we want to DD.  So if I am trying not to DD, I don't lay down in bed until I am really tired.  This is also something docs have started recommending for people with insomnia.  Don't go to bed until you really mean to go to sleep and can barely keep your eyes open.  

Also, I have a couple of self-hypnosis downloads that I often fall asleep to.  Supposedly, MDers are much more easily hypnotized than the rest of the population, so if you buy and download one from online, you will probably find it occupies your mind really well.  There are some for falling asleep, some for "bouncing out of bed" in the morning, etc.  They are reasonably cheap ($10 or $15), and while they aren't a miracle cure or anything, they will keep you from DDing while you are listening to them.  They have also actually had some effect on me as far as falling asleep more quickly and getting out of bed more energized, so it's not too bad for $20!

If you find yourself bored with what you're reading, try a different book or type of book.  Maybe a thriller or another page-turner like that.  Reading is actually a trigger for my DD because it gives me so many ideas for plot lines, but if it helps you, then keep with it.  I also skip through boring chapters sometimes...there's nothing wrong with that.  Reading is supposed to be fun, so do it however you like.  A lot of times books are twice as long as they really need to be, and there's no rule you have to read all the pointless stuff.  :)  ha ha

That's great that you talk to your friend so much!  Maybe you could come on here and try chatting with people.  It seems like there are often people on late at night.  Or maybe you could try journaling?  That is something I have done lately.  Just write down whatever you are thinking about and how you are feeling, etc.  Or you can google "journaling prompts" and it's kind of fun to use those, as they do give you some direction and make me think about things that I otherwise probably wouldn't.  

Anyway, those are just my ideas.  They may or may not work for you, but if you experiment around a little bit, hopefully you'll find something that helps.  When you do let us know, because it could help others here as well, me included!  :)