My imagination has a mind of it's own-please help?!
Question: Its so frustrating and out of control, and I know I don't have ADD or ADHD.But I try to imagine something before I go to sleep, to help me fall asleep on those hard Sunday nights after a long weekend. So I try counting sheep (haha) but if I imagine the fence, the fence immedietly starts breaking. I try to make it steady on the ground but it just collapses. Or the sheep will start jumping in masses, not slow and steady.
Or I try to imagine my future, like me driving. But if I drive, the car just collapses in the ground. It's like all the grounds are never steady, they all collapse. I try to have these nice visions but my imagination, I can't control it. Or like I'll drive and all of the sudden there are ridiculous sized hills, like ones a kindergardner would draw as mountains. It can never be a long road, something always is destroyed. If I picture myself standing somewhere, I just collapse in the ground as if it was made of bad wood. This is only when I try to sleep and imagine.Help!
Answers: Its so frustrating and out of control, and I know I don't have ADD or ADHD.But I try to imagine something before I go to sleep, to help me fall asleep on those hard Sunday nights after a long weekend. So I try counting sheep (haha) but if I imagine the fence, the fence immedietly starts breaking. I try to make it steady on the ground but it just collapses. Or the sheep will start jumping in masses, not slow and steady.
Or I try to imagine my future, like me driving. But if I drive, the car just collapses in the ground. It's like all the grounds are never steady, they all collapse. I try to have these nice visions but my imagination, I can't control it. Or like I'll drive and all of the sudden there are ridiculous sized hills, like ones a kindergardner would draw as mountains. It can never be a long road, something always is destroyed. If I picture myself standing somewhere, I just collapse in the ground as if it was made of bad wood. This is only when I try to sleep and imagine.Help!
You're setting yourself up for this kind of thing, because you're subconsciously anticipating that your exact mental image cannot be maintained.
The more you 'try' to picture something like that against the perceived will of your subconscious, the more impossible it becomes.
The point shouldn't be to mentally manifest a perfect image of sheep jumping neatly across a fence; the point is to let your mind wander and move into mundane and unfocused thought so you can relax, instead of worrying about what happened during the day or what's next.
If you're preoccupied with something when you're trying to sleep, it'll keep you up. It's why it's hard for us to sleep on the night before a competition, an exam, a rite of passage, a trial, etc.
Don't worry about what your brain thinks--just let it wander. If it's coming up with these images, and they are disturbing to you, try to figure out what they mean, deal with those issues that make the images disturbing to you. I've found the best way to fall asleep is not to try to force your brain into thinking something specific, but to let it think what it wants.
Put it to good use write a book or draw, it is energy trying to express itself so let it and help it as long as you are not hurting anyone including yourslef!
Hello kindred soul!
I completely, utterly and entirely understand what you are describing.
For me, I found relief with a medicine that kind of turned off that part of my brain before bed. Of course everyone is different--I would suggest you speak with a doctor to start, get an overall checkup, if needed move on to a talk therapist who can help you get back in the driver's seat of your thinking--and if that fails you can try working with a pscyh doctor on a medicine solution.
Best of luck!
Lol thats reallii cute .. it actuallii happens to me alott as well.. so i dont think anything is wrong with u.. Idk maybe u should like try and fall asleep with calming music or read a book.. it helps ...it helps u imagine different scenerios and makes u fall asleep easier.. it works for me but idk .. i hope it helps
Seems to me you might be stressed out. These are merely anxiety dreams/thoughts. Try cutting out all stimulants in your diet, ie: sugar, caffeine, etc. Also, are you having a good bit of physical activity at least 3 or 4 times a week? Exercise helps you know. Lastly, make your bedtime the same time every night, start a bedtime ritual, where you do the same things every night at the same time, like brushing your hair and brushing your teeth, washing your face, putting on your fave jammies, take a melatonin tablet about 1/2 hour before going to sleep, and read a good book, or watch some bland TV, nothing scary or controversial.
i know what you mean (kind of), i have to literally argue with myself, i don't know if everyone else does that but it's kinda weird, but it's not the usual way, just think, but on a bit more higher level, kinda hard to explain...
I just read one answer someone gave you. It says something about going to the doctor to take medication. I would highly advice against that since modern medicine does nothing beyond treating symthoms and producing more side effects.
There is an ancient practice called "dreaming" in which one retains his/her full attention on the items of their dreams. There are gates between dreams and it seems to me that you are caught between dreaming gates. Next time you see things collapsing before you in dreams try to retain one single item and put all of your attention on it. As it dissapears you will be carried along with it to wherever it goes. What is on the other side? You can only find out by following the last item that dissapears...Don't let fear get the best of you as the transition occurs.
why is it a problem if sheep jump in masses?
- i dont get that... ?
try imagining a dot. concentrate on that dot. chances are it will change into another shape or something. just focus on that shapwe and watch it change and you be be asleep soon enough!
Don't force your brain to think of specific things when you are trying to sleep. It will probably only keep you awake longer.
The images of things "breaking" or "collapsing" is probably your subconcious trying to get you into sleep ("crashing into sleep" or "collapsing after a long day")
Try a hot bath/shower or cup of decaf tea before bed & just let your mind wander. Good luck!
Interesting! Think of it this way...if it's not harming or bothering you, or otherwise acting as an impediment to you, then consider it a gift of an extraordinary imagination. There are lots of un-creative people out there that would love to have an ounce of your imagination! Just let it happen and don't worry too much about it.
And as for trying to fall asleep, try white noise. I turn a fan on before I go to sleep every night. It helps quiet my brain a LOT! (I have ADD.)
Sometimes the things that ur subsubconcious displays befor u sleep hints something about ur emotional well-being. Do u feel as if ur life is falling apart?? That u can't find stability or a safe place 2 stop and rest for a change? Ur future may scare u. U might be scared of learning how 2 drive and, as a defence mechinism, ur subconsious presents an image of destruction and chaos as a responce 2 ur fear.
Try 2 relax befor u go 2 bed. take a shower, watch some mind numbing TV, read a book but DO NOT THINK ABOUT ANYTHING!!!!
Hope this helps!!