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Sat 13 Aug, 2016 04:55 am
I live with my parents and little sister (age 9) but my dad is away a lot of the time. Because of this, my mum and I often go to bed at more similar times (me first). However, I struggle to go to sleep if she is in bed and I am still awake in bed, as it is silent, and I hear noises in the night. The thing is, about four years ago someone broke into our house and stole my parents' mobiles, my mum's handbag, and both of our cars. Ever since then, I hear creaks and thumps in the silence, even when nothing seems to be there. I'm also absolutely terrible on holiday, and I cannot sleep in a different room to my sister and sometimes my parents too. Last night it got worse than it ever was, and I spent the night in cold sweats, feeling sick and not being able to sleep properly. I listen to music to block out the sounds, but it's on a speaker and not headphones so it doesn't work as well, but I am a light sleeper and I can't sleep with headphones. Almost every night I end up tiptoeing into my little sister's room to check she's okay, and my mum is starting to get seriously annoyed with my constant coming into her room shaking (I don't blame her!). Any suggestions on how I can go to sleep more quickly or block out the sounds? Or am I just being pathetic?
@teenproblem,
You have unaddressed issues. It's traumatic to have been broken into!
It would probably be a good idea to talk to a counselor about your fears, even if it's just on one occasion. Can you talk to your parents about arranging that?
@jespah,
I agree with jespah. You have a real fear and it needs to be addressed. My daughter had difficulty sleeping by herself when she was a preteen and she did not even have anything as scary as what happened to you. Talking to a counselor or therapist is definitely helpful.
We went to one with my daughter - she explained even though what you are afraid may not be real (in other words the noises you are hearing are normal household noises - house settling, maybe heating or plumbing, wind, etc can be causing these) your fear is real. The therapist helped her with how to deal with this real fear. She did not require many visits - I think sometimes just speaking to someone that understands helps as well as the tools as how to overcome your fear.
As far as the noises in the mean time - try some sort of sound canceling thing. You could probably get an app if you have an iphone or even a fan going on in your room gives that sort of white noise. My daughter (same one that had a sleeping alone fear) uses a fan as she is a light sleeper and it helps drown out other noises.
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