An effect of trauma

Insomnia or feeling unsafe enough to sleep

Difficulty falling asleep. Difficulty staying asleep. Nightmares that wake you or that you dread. Sleeping too much as a way of escaping. Sleep that does not feel safe because something happened in the night, or because letting your guard down feels dangerous, or because the dreams come when you close your eyes. Sleep is when the nervous system is supposed to restore itself. For many survivors it has become another battleground.

It can sound like

“I struggle to sleep.” “I wake up during the night.” “I have nightmares.” “I am exhausted but I cannot fully rest.” “It is hard to feel safe enough to let go.”

If any of those sentences live in your head too, you are in good company here.

Experiences this often follows

Effects do not come from nowhere. These are some of the experiences that people who carry this one often describe. You do not need to have been through any of them for what you feel to be real.

Nothing on this page is a diagnosis, and nothing here decides what is wrong with you, because nothing is wrong with you. Something happened to you. This page exists so that when you are ready, you can find people who understand it from the inside.

You do not have to carry this alone.

Bridge of Hope Recovery is a free, anonymous, peer-led fellowship for trauma survivors. Meetings run throughout the week by phone, by video, and in person. No cost, no waitlist, no one asking for your real name.

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