I rarely remember my dreams, but I know I have them. Although I can’t normally recall what happened, the feelings from them linger when I wake. Today those feelings were of being panicked, helpless, and alone. Unfortunately that’s a pretty common theme for me. Why? I’m not exactly sure. If I had to hazard a guess I would say that I think our brain works out our past traumas at night. Maybe it’s to protect us so we don’t have to relive them awake during the day. There are massive chunks of time missing from my life where I’m not sure what happened, and truthfully I am grateful for that.
Although I don’t remember them, I still have to live with the aftereffects of my dreams in the morning. The pounding tension headaches, the jaw pain from grinding my teeth, the feeling of wanting to jump out of my skin, will likely follow me through most of the morning.
I’m going to be honest, I am a lover of naps. For some reason I sleep better in an hour in the afternoon than I do all night. On days like today, where I am emotionally exhausted, a nap can recharge me to be able to tackle the rest of the day. It can sometimes even, with the help of some Advil, cure my headache. A good nap is the only way I’ve found that you can hit the restart button on your day.
Panic attack? Nap
Depressed? Nap
Feeling unfulfilled? Nap
Headache or sick? Nap
Sometimes it doesn’t work. Perhaps it just perpetuates an unhealthy cycle of sleeping to avoid feeling. Ahem, surely that’s not what I’m using them for…
Honestly speaking, if you are just trying to make it through the day and don’t plan on using it as a lifelong crutch it can help in the meantime. I mean, maybe. If taking advice from someone who is mentally unstable and largely lives in their pajamas suits you, (which is somewhat concerning) feel free try it out.
The Anxious Empath 