Clinicians have long recognized that schizophrenia and disturbed sleep go hand-in-hand — about 80 percent of schizophrenia patients have sleep problems, Foster said. But these problems have usually been dismissed as a medication side effect or as the result of social isolation and unemployment in people with the disorder.
1 Like
You just changed your avatar. I thought a new member posting here. 
thats true, sometimes ive insomia
I have been diagnosed with severe insomnia. I need meds to sleep. Without them I get to sleep one hour at a time.
I’m 55, and I’ve had sleep problems since I was seven. My sleep patterns are all over the place.
I used to have bad insomnia, before the meds. Now I have no insomnia problems. I have sleep apnea though. I sleep with a cpap.
I feel like schizophrenia could be related to REM sleep. People who are severely ill with it are completely as if they are living in a waking dream. The “delusion” is the plot of the dream, and their hallucinations respond according to their emotions and thoughts, just like the dream environment does. (I dream lucidly so I can monitor and study that kind of thing). Most people are not lucid dreamers, as in not aware of the dream, so most schizophrenics off medication will not be aware that what they are experiencing is a product of their mind just as a dreamer wouldn’t believe you if you tried to tell them the same thing.
I think if you could find a schizophrenic capable of lucid dreaming, (possessing heightened awareness in altered states of consciousness) and teach them techniques over how to change and manipulate their dreams, they could possibly learn to do the same with their hallucinations/delusions in the waking world. Dream therapy of sorts, haha. It’s just stuff I ponder on.
1 Like
Oh!
Spring has moved in along with Seasonal Depression here in NZ.
For the past month I was maybe getting two hours sleep a night.
Deprivation wore me down and the anxiety was touching down hard.
I finally got a good night’s rest but had to go back on the Rispadol for a short while to calm the nerves.
Three suggestions:
-
During the daytime get some form of exercise. The depression keeps us indoors most days but we need to at least walk for twenty minutes or so.
-
Whenever sleeping I just picture an inanimate object apple, banana, fork, etc and try and keep my focus on picturing that item - It tends to keep the mind from rambling on about other things.
-
When all else fails - I find sleeping on my back often works.
I have a hard time with good sleep habits. I get really amped during the day and I’m still amped at night. I find I have to take time to basically sit in a dimly lit, quiet room and quiet the mind and body to get ready for bed.
If I go to bed even slightly restless… I’ll sleep walk or worse.
You know, oddly enough, I sleep great! I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep. However, I sleep walk all the time. When I am not sleep walking, I
am either shaking or talking… So, my husband doesn’t sleep!
One person who seems to agree with you Psychosis and schizophrenia - the REM state connection
A blog post suggesting a connection REM Sleep and Schizophrenia | Discussions in Psychiatry
A more scientific article that mentions REM sleep
1 Like