How To Sleep Better

Can insomnia cause hallucinations and could insomia trigger psychosis?

I have chronic insomnia. i sometimes stay up for 3-4 days without sleep. on these occasions i get some visual distortions such as the walls closing in on me or the window blinds swaying side to side or seeing something out of the corner of my eye. sometimes the hallucinations are worst than that. i told my psychiatrist about the problem and he diagnosed me with slight schizophrenia but i believe that was a misdiagnosis. is it common to have hallucinations when you deprive sleep? also what is the average amount of days one would have to stay awake in order to encounter such hallucinations. BTW i have tried nearly every sleeping pill but they just make me extremely tired but they don’t give me the ability to sleep. please give me advise because my disorder is causing me tremendous stress and depression. also i don’t really require sleep that much. can this be a symptom of hypo-mania or was my Friend just bsing me?

First of all, get a new psychiatrist! “Slight Schizophrenia” is not a professional diagnosis (google F20.0, that’s the most common kind of schizophrenia and it is not “slight”).

Also, insomnia doesn’t cause mental illnesses, mental illnesses however, can cause insomnia. I believe that your amount of lack of sleep should be checked out by more than a psychiatrist. Insomnia can have organic or genetic reasons. You should also check on your sleep hygiene, do have a regular bedtime? Do you manage to have a really dark environment when attempting to sleep? Lights on alarm clocks, computers or the stand-by mode of TV’s can have negative effects on sleep. Also check your diet and your social and professional life. Do you suffer from a lot of stress in school/uni/work? Are you under pressure? If you can, make an appointment with a doctor for internal medicine and try to get one in a sleep laboratory also.

I would advise to not use sleeping pills, they don’t fight the cause, just the symptoms and they can damage certain organs (which is important, in case your insomnia is organic).

Furthermore, try to stay away from coffee, alcohol, amphetamines (sometimes psychiatrists want to subscribe benzodiazipin, don’t let them if possible) and overly much carbs (carbohydrates are sugars, they fuel you to have more energy, which you don’t want when trying to sleep).

Also, in case you are overweight, try to reduce. Obesity can be laborous on your organs and make sleeping harder.

Sorry for the indefinite answer but you really need to see a proper doctor.

Good luck!