CAN'T sleep at night.. Only during the day..

I'm a teen. I was diagnosed with anxiety and OCD around age 9. Its been so hard to deal with. I'm homeschooled, I have one friend, I BARELY go out. I don't even see daylight or society anymore. Basically, a few months ago I started going to bed when it gets light out. I sleep from 9am-12pm until 5-6pm. And i'm usually DEAD tired when I wake up so I stay in bed until like 8pm.
I now have SEVERE depression because of my life. I cry every single day, I have this "feeling" inside of me that things will never change. I feel fake. I cut myself everyday to feel pain so I know i'm alive. I'm actually addicted now . I honestly hate having these mental issues, I cry when I think about how different I am from normal teenagers.

Sometimes I try going to bed earlier, like around 4am. Tonight was one of those nights. So I was tired around 4am, so I left my TV on and closed my eyes. I woke up half an hour later. I turned my TV off ( without knowing totally what I was doing ) and I THINK I just layed there half asleep for another hour. Anyway, at 6:30am I "woke up" feeling super scared and confused, my whole room was dark. I switched my TV on, and came on my laptop, and now here I am. Its 7:10am, and i'll probably be sleeping in like 3-4 hours now. I NEVER thought my life would get to the point where i'm ACTUALLY depressed. I can't believe its actually come down to this. I need to be up during the day, but i'm to SCARED to sleep at night. Even nightlights don't help, its not because of the darkness. I just feel uneasy sleeping at night. PLEASE help

I am so sorry you are struggling so much with your mood and cutting and sleep-it sounds like a horrible place to be in. I really think you need to get some help with this as it sounds too much for you to handle on your own-it would be too much for anyone I think. Is there anyone you trust who is an adult you can talk to? I think that once the mood is better and the cutting is worked through then hopefully the sleep will follow but it sounds like there are some issues that need addressing by a professional. It might be that they can offer you meds and/or therapy to try to help you. It might also help to post in the self injury forum as there are a lot of ppl there who will understand. I am sorry not to be able to advise more about the sleep but I think the other issues need addressing to help that.

Many hugs and keep safe

Cracked

This sounds a lot like me,over all.
I would recommend you talk to a professional,or maybe even try going in for a sleep study,you could have some issues you don't know about that are causing this.
Also,what I find helps me a little,is doing something creative before I sleep.Such as drawing,painting or writing,in place of television or the internet.

Best of luck to you,
Anthro.

I know exactly how you feel. There is just something about the daylight and the activity of people around you that makes it a lot easier to sleep. I've done some research on things like this, because even if I'm tired all day, as soon as the sun goes down I get intensely hyper (this is just a sort of person reflection:) and I found that people like me have a body clock issue that could do with childhood. When I was a small child, between 4-7 years old, I'd force my parents to keep a lamp on and the hallway light on while I slept. As well, I would then stay awake and play well into the night. Personally, because of my youth issue, I found it natural to sleep when I got tired, which happened to be when my parents would wake up to take me to daycare around 7am, and I'd sleep on the way there. Now, I find that sleeping in cars, in school, in the library, and anywhere where there is people awake is a lot easier. I also think it has to do with someone "watching over you" as you sleep.

Don't worry. Your life will get better. I spent an entire summer spending my days asleep and my nights internet surfing. I never work up in time to eat dinner with my family, and it'd be weeks between bathings. As soon as something to kick your butt comes in place--school, work, etc--you'll be forced to be awake during the day. I suggest having someone sign you up for at least a yoga, art, or cooking class during the day, maybe around noon, so you have to be awake by then.

When it comes to actually sleeping, well, you have to find your own system. I get extremely paranoid at night, especially since I have a very active imagination. If you have an animal, have it always sleep in your room. I find this takes the place of a person "watching over me" when I have my cat sleep with me. If you are petless, try a fan, a mp3 player, or your tv (which you seem to already use), to give you the allusion of activity. As well, I keep my thoughts shallow (maybe about what clothes I'm wearing the next day, what to eat for breakfast, what is on my to-do list) so I don't think too much. Just by running through a list helps keep my mind of scary subjects as well off of things that could stress me out or upset me. By staying shallow, I find it's easier to fall asleep.

The irony of this reply is that it's 4:00 am where I am, and I am unable to fall asleep.

maddy222 wrote:I'm a teen. I was diagnosed with anxiety and OCD around age 9. Its been so hard to deal with. I'm homeschooled, I have one friend, I BARELY go out. I don't even see daylight or society anymore. Basically, a few months ago I started going to bed when it gets light out. I sleep from 9am-12pm until 5-6pm. And i'm usually DEAD tired when I wake up so I stay in bed until like 8pm.
uneasy sleeping at night. PLEASE help

I know how you feel. It's 4:23 A.M. where I live, and I'm still not "tired" enough to go to sleep. My sleep "schedule" is also accompanied by depression, like you. Have you tried using sleeping medication, either over the counter, or prescription from your doctor?