{"id":720,"date":"2025-05-23T13:48:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/doze\/?p=720"},"modified":"2025-06-06T14:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T13:40:13","slug":"somniphobia-and-the-fear-of-dying-in-your-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/doze\/2025\/05\/23\/somniphobia-and-the-fear-of-dying-in-your-sleep\/","title":{"rendered":"Somniphobia and the fear of dying in your sleep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Somniphobia is the fear of sleep. In extreme cases, a fear of dying in your sleep. It causes a deep sense of anxiety as bedtime approaches, and those suffering tend to put off sleeping, often experiencing severe distress and sometimes panic attacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neel Syed, a 20-year-old student from London, spoke about his experience with Somniphobia and how it developed and affected him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was around the start of January 2021, right after we went into the 2nd lockdown, the winter lockdown. Prior to this time, I\u2019d never really experienced any issues with my sleep; it was something I always just did. Effortlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For most, sleep occurs naturally without any second thought. The second lockdown was a big turning point for Neel, who prior to this, didn’t have an issue with his sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou would get the odd night, whatever became an occurrence. I never dwelled on it, nor did I feel the need to address it. I would just go about the next day as usual, have a nap, or just get an early night.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sleep was just folded into Neel\u2019s routine, something he did and would forget the next day. However, it often plays a big factor in mental changes. At 16 years old, your brain starts to develop and rewire itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think about sleep at all, it was just something that happened. It was almost as if I was on autopilot. When I turned 16, though, everything changed. I started to experience more general anxiety.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mental change set the precedent for those fears and irrationalities to come. With increased general anxiety, came a shift in Neel\u2019s perception of sleep. A sudden family disaster only intensified things further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the January period during lockdown, an uncle of mine roughly in his 40s, so not that old at, just passed away in his sleep and it was just so unexpected. He had no health issues, he was completely fine. He was very active I\u2019d say. And then suddenly he just dies in his sleep, completely out of the blue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Often in life, losing a loved one, especially in shock and unexpected circumstances, can act as a trigger for new thoughts and emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt got everyone thinking. We were all a bit shaken. I think that was the point where I became conscious of my sleep. The point where I began to develop a fear of sleep, the fear of something as tragic as what happened to my uncle happening to not only me but also to my other family.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Neel\u2019s case, the tragic loss of his uncle sparked a new fear, a fear of sleep. What was once a simple, calming process became one that resembled death and suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was a tough grieving process for us especially considering it was a lockdown so we couldn\u2019t all be together. So that month of January was a tough one for me but we got through it. However, I would say what happened to my uncle made me conscious about my sleep in the sense that I would place much more focus on it than I used to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic and the loss of his uncle introduced the fears and anxieties regarding sleep. However, the worst of it was yet to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t actually have issues with my sleep during that period. I feel like we were all so distracted by the actual grief from losing my uncle than focusing on what happened to him. My fear of sleeping properly began around February.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February was the precise onset of Neel\u2019s Somniphobia. It was after the grief over his uncle had settled. It was a separate event. One that well and truly established his fear of sleep in ways even he couldn\u2019t imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t had any bad experiences with my mental health up until that point but that all changed very quickly. I met up with an old mate of mine and was sort of peer pressured into trying marijuana for the first time. Well, I say peer pressure, but part of it was out of my own curiosity, too. I mean I was 16 years old. I think it is understandable and pretty much everyone else I knew had tried it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A moment of curiosity quickly turned into a nightmare. An overwhelming response to a new substance pushed Neel into a state of panic that would come to haunt him for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was my first and last time. I reacted to it in such a bad way. I kept passing out then waking up but was unable to control it which was really scary and everything just started spinning. I became so paranoid and started to really struggle. You know that fight or flight stage where everything just becomes so intense in that very moment. I went into that stage and it was horrible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anxiety and panic from everything imprinted itself onto Neel as he battled on his own with the lack of any support from his family, which all stemmed from further fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would describe that experience as traumatic for me because I hadn\u2019t felt anything like it in my entire life. That night after everything passed, I was still very shaken up from it all. I couldn\u2019t talk to my parents or my sisters though because I was so scared of how they would react to it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neel found himself unable to move past the situation, trapped in his thoughts, unable to escape the dread of somniphobia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat night as I tried to sleep my mind just wouldn\u2019t let me. It was just throwing these racing thoughts at me like a roller coaster. They were so vivid too, almost like hallucinations as I was trying to sleep. Every time I would begin to drift off it would happen. That was the first time I had a really bad sleep experience from what I can recall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The racing thoughts and hallucinations almost acted as a manifestation of the toll somniphobia can take on one\u2019s mental state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on key disruptors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n