When Trauma Strikes and Sleep... Video Transcript

Participants

, Daniel J. Buysse M.D., Thomas A. Mellman M.D., Charles F. Reynolds I MD, Allen Blaivas MD

Summary

The tragedy of life-altering events can turn your world upside down. It can have a tremendous emotional impact as well as the potential for causing the loss of good sleep. While time can heal, experts suggest there are a variety of positive steps people can take to tackle poor sleep. Seeking support by talking to friends and family may lessen trauma's effects on sleep. Paying attention to sleep habits is suggested while there are also medications that will help get sleep back on track.

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: There are times when it seems our world is changed forever. Whether it is a loss of a loved one or a life-threatening event. These experiences can leave a mark on our very being.

CHARLES F. REYNOLDS, MD: A traumatic event, in essence, is a threatening event, one in which your well being as a person-physical, emotional, spiritual, social-is threatened.

THOMAS A. MELLMAN, MD: A range of experiences can be considered traumatic. Losses, disappointments, an experience where a person feels that their life is actually in danger or that their physical integrity is in danger.

ANNOUNCER: While what we consider "traumatic" differs for each of us, the after effects of such an event are often similar.

CHARLES F. REYNOLDS, MD: Very often, preoccupation with the event itself, intrusive thoughts about the event, say, a loss. Other people react with anger, others with great sadness. For most of us, the aftermath of a traumatic event is a heightened sense of anxiety or worry about our well-being, and very often a loss of sleep, of good quality sleep at night.

ANNOUNCER: Difficulties with sleep can result from the ways in which we try and cope with difficult times.

THOMAS A. MELLMAN, MD: A person might feel the need to maintain a high level of vigilance. In other words, to be on alarm, to be on guard. And being on guard is basically incompatible with being asleep.

CHARLES F. REYNOLDS, MD: They may wake up at night again preoccupied with the event and having a sense of anxiety or foreboding. Repetitive dreams, often, nightmares can be occasions for sleep loss as well.

ANNOUNCER: In the best of times, poor sleep at night can make life difficult during the day. Those problems only increase when someone is trying to handle a life-altering event.

THOMAS A. MELLMAN, MD: You have kind of a paradoxical mixture of a person who's fatigued because of sleep loss, but at the same time on guard and over-vigilant. That it's more difficult for them to focus and concentrate.

ANNOUNCER: Gaining back quality sleep often means finding ways to put the event in perspective.

THOMAS A. MELLMAN, MD: It's helpful for people to talk about their experiences, and people who find a very difficult time doing that, paradoxically, may be the ones who need to do it the most.

One colleague of mine has found that having people talk about or write about their disturbing recurring dreams-trauma-related dreams. And asking them to alter the ending, usually from a more threatening scenario to one in which they have more control, is also a helpful strategy.

ANNOUNCER: Experts sometimes recommend that a sleep diary could be helpful. This journal is kept by the sleeper and records what they do before bedtime and what happens when they sleep.

THOMAS A. MELLMAN, MD: Keeping a diary might render a person more attentive to their habits about sleep, and may become obvious to them what some of the maladaptive habits are. Staying awake for prolonged periods in bed and just getting frustrated, as opposed to leaving the bedroom if sleep is not forthcoming.

ANNOUNCER: Doctors also suggest avoiding things like coffee, exercise or alcohol before bedtime. Relaxation techniques can be helpful. There are also over-the-counter as well as prescription medications that can get the problem sleeper back on track.

CHARLES F. REYNOLDS, MD: For folks who are suffering from an acute or short-term sleep disturbance in the wake of a traumatic or threatening life event, very often the short-term use of sleeping pills can be a real help.