Clinophobia is an irrational phobia whose sufferers feel an unjustified fear of sleep or the act of going to bed . This fear can manifest itself as a concrete response to rest in bed or in a more generic way, to fall asleep in any context.

What is clinophobia?

This phobia is also often called “oneirophobia” or “somniphobia”, although they have distinctive nuances. The term clinophobia refers to the fear of going to sleep, and comes from the Greek klinein (bed) and phobos (fear).

Although the fear of going to sleep is not usually a well-known or studied disorder, we are facing a really common phobia that affects people of any age and from any social and cultural background.

As with the vast majority of phobias suffered by human beings, those affected by clinophobia are aware that their fear of going to sleep is unjustified and causes them irrational anxiety. However, they cannot manage these psychological and physiological sensations that their brain produces in response to fear , so they enter a vicious circle.

If this phobia is not treated and continues over time, the person may begin to worsen both physically and psychologically, and their well-being may be seriously jeopardized.

Causes

As it usually happens in most phobias and fears, clinophobia is part of certain events in the individual’s learning. The associations that the person makes with their environment gives rise to their learning history, and in the case of these patients, they may have associated certain negative sensations with the behavior of sleeping or going to bed. This generates fear, anxiety and eventually leads to phobia.

Several traumatic events in childhood can lead to this phobia . As an example, a child who wets the bed (enuresis) may develop clinophobia by relating these two events that cause him/her low self-esteem and unpleasant sensations: going to bed to sleep and involuntary urination during sleep.

In adults, nightmares, bruxism, restless leg syndrome, some type of sleep breathing disorder, and other psychological and medical conditions can also lead to clinophobia.

However, the truth is that the most frequent cause of clinophobia is linked to chronic and serious problems of insomnia. Also as a result of the psychological association, those affected link the fact of going to sleep with the bad psychological experience of having insomnia, a situation that causes anxiety and, therefore, avoidance.

Symptoms

The symptoms of this phobia usually appear at bedtime, or when you are already in bed, trying to fall asleep. Anyway, there are cases in which the simple idea of sleeping can generate anxiety and nervousness .

The most common symptoms are agitation, nervousness and discomfort in the moments before going to bed. In more severe cases, those affected may suffer great anxiety and even panic attacks.

In remote cases, some patients have reported that during the nerve crises associated with clinophobia they may experience symptoms such as heightened senses, even claiming altered states of consciousness.

As with any phobia, fear and anxiety are the two most common symptoms. Nausea and dizziness, agitation, muscle tension, hyperventilation, hot flushes, tremors, dry mouth, dizziness, sweating, confusion, etc. are also common. In severe cases, the affected person may fear losing control or even dying while asleep.

Of course, patients also experience a lower quality and quantity of sleep, and this phobia may correlate with medical problems such as insomnia, apathy, decreased quality of life …
In this sense, it should be noted that insomnia can be both the cause of the problem and a consequence of phobia.

Treatment and therapy

Clinophobia is a phobic disorder in which a series of persistent symptoms appear, linked to fear and anxiety , as well as the effects that these generate on the quality and quantity of sleep. Therefore, it is also frequently associated with problems of insomnia.

In this sense, the different therapeutic approaches seek to combat phobia from different sides. We are going to know some of the forms of therapy and tools most frequently used as treatment for clinophobia.

Techniques for managing anxiety

It is becoming increasingly common for people to practice relaxation techniques. Some are really simple and have great effects on anxiety management.
Both breathing and other techniques proposed by psychologists have had a special interest in this area.

2. Psychoeducation

If the patient is fully aware of the psychological and physiological mechanisms behind his irrational fear, it will be easier for him to understand the ways in which his discomfort and fear can be reduced.

With this tool, the patient is able to understand the causes of the phobia, how it has been generated, what factors limit his ability to overcome it and a good number of psychological tips to manage it. To this end, the patient must have all the relevant information related to the clinophobia.

3. Systematic desensitization

Another effective technique for treating specific phobias is systematic desensitization. This is a combination of relaxation techniques with a gradual approach to the object, situation or context that causes the phobia.

This technique helps to be able to go to bed without the presence of anxiety and the bad feelings that used to be associated with that behaviour.