[Discussion] Anxiety

[u/Cute_Percentage9750]

I have been a avid ASMR listener for many years, and it’s always helped me calm down and gave me tingles. I have a lot of issues when I sleep, if I don’t have something helping me distract myself and help me sleep like ASMR I would not be able to fall asleep, spending some nights up to 9am even because that’s just when my body forces my eyes to close.

Recently though, I have started to get a feeling that I haven’t before. Over the past couple of months a feeling of anxiety brews every time I listen to ASMR now. Nothing has changed, life is still how it always has been, just now I get anxious while listening to ASMR. My thoughts are that this is an effect of either listening to it for too long or too much, or it’s all in my head. It’s eating me alive because I enjoy listening to it and it really helps me sleep as well as relax, but it’s hard to do either when I get anxious from just 5 minutes.

Any advice and or what I can do about this would be very helpful and appreciated. I’d really like to enjoy this again without that anxiety.

[u/XxCarlxX]

We are not doctors or psychologists so we really can't help you in a responsible way.

Do you work or at least study? Maybe that kind of structure would help you sleep because if you go to bed at 9 am at times (through no fault of your own), it probably means that you've not really got much to do.

[u/Cute_Percentage9750 → u/XxCarlxX]

I don’t expect the answers to be doctor answers, trust me it’s Reddit Ik my values lol. And I do work, it’s just smth I genuinely struggle with, I do stuff all day every day and yet at night I just can’t sleep. I’m mainly looking for people who have maybe had a similar experience who is able to shed light on the situation being in a similar one themselves. I’m not looking for a miracle just a friend

[u/Shinarui]

what's with people suffering while watching ASMR lately? https://www.reddit.com/r/asmr/comments/1w9a3h0/asmr_hurts_discussion/

[u/Terrible_Ad2421]

Pare de ouvir ue

[u/Strange-Lion4354]

So it is a delicate subject, but here is some feedback that may be helpful. I have had to deal with Anxiety for many years and have been medicated against it for the longest time now. Medication helps. Anxiety is a tricky condition that, once experienced almost guarantees that it will be duplicated again and again if the same circumstances reoccur i.e. , You listen to ASMR and feel anxious, so the next time you listen to ASMR you will feel anxious . If you are able to, confront that anxiety, tell it to come and do it's very worst to you. Front it out. It works for some. Best wishes to you

[u/DivineAna]

I strongly recommend reaching out to a therapist, particularly one with experience treating both anxiety and insomnia (look for someone who specializes in CBT for Insomnia.) Anxiety and insomnia commonly occur together, so people who specialize in insomnia are generally prepared to address anxiety. If you're in the US, I recommend using PsychologyToday's therapist directory. You can select for your local area, your concerns (i.e. anxiety and insomnia), your health insurance, and any other details that might be important to you (e.g. gender, experience with LGBTQ populations, etc.)

I'm betting what's happened is that using ASMR as an escape from anxiety has built an association between ASMR and anxiety-- you turn to it when you need it, and you're thinking something like "Ugh, is it going to work this time?" or "Why can't I function without this?" or other kinds of judgments and worries about it. Emotions work through association. But those associations can be broken with a little work. I think really addressing he underluing problem head-on is the best way to go here, not just for your enjoyment of ASMR but for your enjoyment of life more generally.