TeenHelp - Mind races while sleeping

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Mind races while sleeping

Any ones mind racing when sleeping? I know how do you know if your sleeping. Its hard to explain. Im not sure how. I just know lately my mind has been racing while im sleeping.

Re: Mind races while sleeping

Mind racing when sleeping? Hmm, that's a difficult one. Sometimes I get strange dreams or something and I wake up and don't feel so good- perhaps as though I have been processing something while sleeping. Or I might suddenly wake up and have a flood of thoughts.

I'm not sure if my mind 'races' as such but sometimes I struggle getting to sleep because I can't stop thinking. It's just a flow of thoughts, all connected, but I just keep thinking and thinking and thinking. It does make it difficult to get to sleep. This happened last night. I try and catch myself when it happens and tell myself that there's not much point in thinking as I'm not getting anywhere and all it does is prevent me from sleeping. I either try to think of something else (especially if whatever I'm thinking about isn't particularly pleasant) or I'll try and stop thinking completely and just engage in a bit of mindfulness- focusing on the sensations of lying in bed.

Not sure what to suggest if it's happening in your sleep though as you may not have a lot of control over that. Apart from trying to de-stress before bed and develop good sleeping habits maybe. Anything that might be bothering you that might be behind this?

Re: Mind races while sleeping

I wouldn't say I've had my mind racing while I'm asleep, but I have felt like I'm asleep yet think of so many things at once. Suddenly a lot of time has passed. So perhaps that's the same thing. Usually that happens after a combination of a really eventful day and a lot of caffeine.

Re: Mind races while sleeping

Occasionally I do have fully conscious thoughts when I am asleep, like about something I need to do or on something I'm excited about. For me, I think I tend to fixate on things because of my OCD and then my mind won't let it go. I also think my sleep has to be off for that to happen, as in, I'm not fully asleep but asleep enough to sort of get "stuck" in it.

May I ask what thoughts you're having when you sleep? Maybe you can try to do some things before you sleep to help with this, like coming up with a routine or writing your thoughts on paper so they aren't in your head.