Clinophobia- Fear of going to bed
Clinophobia is an unreasonable fear relating to going to bed or sleeping. One might be surprised to learn that this fear is not as uncommon as one might think. Sleep problems like vivid nasty dreams can lead to the development of Clinophobia. Since dreams are unconscious they do not have to conform to the norms of the waking world experience so these can be very extreme and unpleasant.
Clinophobia is not considered to be a traditional sleep disorder as there can be medical or organic reasons for conditions like insomnia.. The symptoms associated with Cliniophobia varies from person to person. Depending on the severity of the phobia the condition can manifest itself in many ways. For some sufferers, the clinophobia causes them to feel uneasy and fearful when attempting to sleep and in the more severe cases, attempting to sleep might provoke severe anxiety or panic attacks. This however is not a common occurrence, but when it does happen it serves to reinforce the fear making the next night’s sleep far more difficult to achieve.
Treatment for this condition can involve hypnosis as this is the most direct form of treatment to access the unconscious mind and as that is where this fear resides it seems the most logical vehicle of therapy.
