At our low point, my anxious son was sleeping on the floor in my room every night. He wasn't sleeping and when he finally did sleep it wasn't restful. He was so stressed out that his body couldn't calm down at all. When he tried to sleep his body fought back with terrible hypnic jerks that woke him up and started his panic. These jerks made the cycle worse. As they occurred and interfered with his sleep he grew more and more exhausted, which in turn made the jerks worse. His interest in things was down. His mood was down. He lost weight. He got stuck in a cycle that had me researching things like Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. It was a tense time for us, always waiting for when the next cycle might hit.
We started positive reinforcement. An incentive for staying in his own bed at night and calming him self down. Something to work towards to help him break the bad habits he admitted he was forming. His currency? Music. He earned one song from iTunes for each night that he was in bed by 10pm. But he couldn't get them until he had earned 4. It took a week to get the first set. And 2 more to get the 2nd set. As he progressed I changed things- if he came down in the middle of the night and didn't go back to his room he didn't earn. If he didn't stay in bed he lost a song, etc. At one point he got into negative numbers. And once he was so far back we had to wipe the slate clean and start over. But he broke his cycle. As he got to bed earlier, his body got rested and his jerks stopped. He had interests again. He played again. He smiled again. Things were looking up.
Are we back at the bottom? No. 10 steps forward, 1 step back. And that is okay. It's part of the journey. We'll make it to the top one of these days. Together.
linked to the Encourage One Another Link Up
Hey Sarah, this is a very beautiful, wise post.
ReplyDeleteI have struggled with anxiety my whole life, it sounds like you are doing a great job with your son! New follower from MBC, I look forward to your future posts! You can find me at
ReplyDeletehttp://wvfrugal-wvsaver.blogspot.com/
So glad he's doing better. It's heartbreaking to watch our kids hurting.
ReplyDeleteWhat a powerful article. Thank you for sharing your journey in helping your child to cope with a change in his life. I am happy that he is doing better. Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteCynthia
I have severe anxiety myself and worry that my son will one day have problems with it as well. Thank you for such a reassuring post. I am so happy that your son is doing better, that must have been so hard on you to see your baby struggle like that.
ReplyDeleteI am a new follower from MBC, I am excited to be able to read all of your posts. If you would like to check out my blog, you can find it here http://mommawithoutaclue.blogspot.com