Sleep Troubles

[Eucides]

Well, today I went a bit cuckoo today. I don't want to get into that, but now I seem perfectly sane but I keep hearing voices. And I can't sleep. I seem perfectly fine. Can anyone help me with what this is about? I just want to know people who have experienced the same thing and can help me.

[Barringtonia]

Well luckily you've come to the right place, we're all doctors here.

[Eucides]

Well luckily you've come to the right place, we're all doctors here.

Stop the sarcasm... seriously.

[Laneige]

I suggest that you pay a visit to your nearest psychiatrist in the meantime. Could be hallucinations but who knows..

[Dagnia]

Do you live with someone or alone? Someone may be playing with you.

Try medication that may make you drowsy for the sleep. I take a generic version of Benedryl (I am ready for bed soon and just took one) and it knocks me out after two or three.

[Barringtonia]

Well luckily you've come to the right place, we're all doctors here.

Stop the sarcasm... seriously.

Then do this...

I suggest that you pay visit to your nearest psychiatrist in the meantime.

That or your doctor.

[Commonly Inebriated]

Well, today I went a bit cuckoo today. I don't want to get into that, but now I seem perfectly sane but I keep hearing voices. And I can't sleep. I seem perfectly fine. Can anyone help me with what this is about? I just want to know people who have experienced the same thing and can help me.

Same thing happened to me after almost three days with out sleep. Besides that I can't help ya.

[Tubbsalot]

If it lasts more than about 8 hours, I don't think there's any alternative but to see a doctor.

[Dingusdom]

Well luckily you've come to the right place, we're all doctors here.

Stop the sarcasm... seriously.

You came to a game forum board for advice and didn't expect sarcasm? you sad, strange little man.....

[New Dracora]

If it lasts more than about 8 hours, I don't think there's any alternative but to see a doctor.

This ^

In the mean time, lay off the caffeine.

[Dagnia]

I suggest that you pay a visit to your nearest psychiatrist in the meantime. Could be hallucinations but who knows..

Psychiatry is every bit as much of a pseudoscience masquerading as medicine as phrenology was in its heyday. Unlike phrenologists, psychiatrists are paid by drug companies to hand out drugs that really don't do anything but suppress emotions. They may actually make the problem worse. And if they consider you sick enough, they can make sure you end up with less rights than a convicted criminal. A psychiatrist is the last thing anyone needs.

I had a similar problem some time ago. The problem was stress and lack of sleep. Get sleep in just about any way you can, preferably take a trusted over the counter drug that makes you drowsy. During the day when you have free time, meditate. Meditation may also put you to sleep even without the drug (it often did when I was working a full week and going to classes) so maybe try that first.

[Tubbsalot]

Psychiatry is every bit as much of a pseudoscience masquerading as medicine as phrenology was in its heyday.

Yup, those guys go through over a decade of scientific training to reach the status of "quack." Yuppers. I choose to believe you over them, because you are much more of an authority on psychiatry than psychiatrists are.

[Tubbsalot]

Get sleep in just about any way you can, preferably take a trusted over the counter drug that makes you drowsy.

Yeah! Don't use any of that "prescription" stuff! That's meant to clear up serious issues! I'm pretty sure that a little aspirin will fix this guy right up!

[Barringtonia]

Psychiatrists are the tools of Xenu.

[Hresejnen]

Aye. Don't go for a psychiatrist. See a sleep therapist or psychologist. Psychiatrists are by and large what we call in the industry "fucking cunts".

I've gotten multiple times what you're experiencing now, which are hallucinations before sleep (hypnagogic) or triggered by stress. It's generally nothing to worry about, and is actually really common. If insomnia is giving you troubles, try methods for destressing (meditation, reading before bed - I've got a personal taste for autohypnosis). I'd say it's also a good idea to write down what happens when these hallucinations occur, and recent events that you can think of, especially stressful ones, so that you can pinpoint the cause if they are triggered by stress.

[Lordieth]

Could you please be more specific? Are they whispers? Single words? Sentences? Do you take any stimulants? Caffeinated Drinks? Smoke Tobacco? Smoke Cannabis? Do you think a great deal at night about worries etc? Do you eat close to bedtime?

I know my way around insomnia, but the voices could be several things, so please be more specific, and include visual hallucinations if you have them.

[New Dusty Angels]

Hallucination are my guess. After a day or 2 without sleeping they start to happen. I know I got chased by a broom after not sleeping for a day. I had to get convinced by a friend that it was just me hallucinating xD

[Forlon]

Hallucination are my guess. After a day or 2 without sleeping they start to happen. I know I got chased by a broom after not sleeping for a day. I had to get convinced by a friend that it was just me hallucinating xD

WTF? I stay up 39 hours TRYING to hallucinate and you do it after a day. Dammit lol


Anyway, I would say what others have been saying, get some sleep first--if the voices are still there when you wake up see a doc or psych.

[Lordieth]

Shrugging off the hallucinations as a symptom of sleep deprivation is a bit of a half-diagnosis, as hallucinations caused by stress can be a clinical condition that needs treatment. However the OP should see a general practitioner who is qualified to refer him to the right people. Misdiagnosis can be harmful.

[Rethan]

As a dedicated non-sleeper, I'd say the reason you're hearing voices is probably due to lack of sleep. Depending on your tolerance, it can happen after a day, or after 3. Sometimes it might not even happen at all, and sometimes you might wind up seeing things too.

tl;dr = Go to sleep. Try your local drug store for some sleep medication. Pharmacists are required to have some basic knowledge of their medicines, so ask them which one they recommend.

[Yaltabaoth]

Alternatively, get a job working late shift at a cinema, so you can splice single frames of pornography into family films.

[Dakini]

There are a lot of potential causes for insomnia and things you can do to prevent it.

I've stopped consuming caffeine after 4pm. I try going to bed at the same time every day. If I have trouble sleeping, I get out of bed and drink some tea that's supposed to induce sleepiness (or some warm milk) and read a book for a while. I try keeping my room dark and free of distractions. Also, exercise is good for helping knock a person out. You can't stay awake too well when you've gone and worn yourself out a little earlier in the day.

Oh, and masturbation and/or sex also helps. Nothing brings about sleepiness and relaxation like an orgasm.

Or pot. Or just a shot of something high proof (though if you get wasted, this decreases sleep quality and results in feeling like shit the next day).

[Lordieth]

Nice Fight Club reference Yaltabaoth.

[Hresejnen]

Psychiatrists are by and large what we call in the industry "fucking cunts".

When I grow up I want to be a "fucking cunt". Yay.

Which industry by the way? It must be an amazing one to be able to give folks a diagnosis and advice over the internet from a couple of lines of an OP

Psychology, of course, though if you call a couple lines over the internet a diagnosis, I'd worry about what your image of that practice is. I do my best to actually give a non-threatening starting point for people asking for help on a forum rather than attempt to send them along to "professionals", who in my experience are often more in the dark than the common folks. It's clear that they prefer, at the moment, not to see a professional, unless they're moronic and don't understand what a psychologist is for, so telling them to see one is not really that helpful. I happen to have first-hand experience with what's going on in this thread, so I figured I would pipe in and offer some general advice. It actually doesn't have anything to do with the study.

As for the 'fucking cunt' bit, that was more or less a joke, and my own and not representative of psychology by and large. I have met with enough psychiatrists to form a stereotype for myself, fueled by several psych professors jabbing at psychiatry, joking that they don't have a "real" degree and whatnot. My point is that they are more physicians or general practitioners than psychologists and, as a previous poster pointed out, essentially exist nowadays to dish out drugs. If our OP went to one, it's very likely he'd be given sleeping pills and sent on his way to a psychologist anyway.

[Tubbsalot]

As for the 'fucking cunt' bit, that was more or less a joke, but I have met with enough psychiatrists to form a stereotype for myself, fueled by several psych professors jabbing at psychiatry, joking that they don't have a "real" degree and whatnot.

Am I incredibly misinformed, or is it not a fact that psychiatrists complete medical training IN ADDITION to psychology training?

Do I detect some insecurity?