Strange sleeping pattern

"Sleepy" my dear,

I have never come across this reaction to childhood trauma before, but that explanation is plausible. However, your specialist is wrong. Childhood trauma can be resolved. If you lived near me, I'd use "exposure therapy through age-regression hypnosis." You go into a trance (without falling asleep!) and in imagination travel back to 8 years of age, to find what might have happened. Then you can do an evidence-based activity that "resolves" the trauma, so rather than something that needs to be kept hidden in a box at great cost of energy, it becomes just a memory.

Hypnosis can also be used to influence you during sleep, because the part of us that has dreams is always there (called the hidden observer). A first aid for sleeping in flight/fight mode is to learn meditation, and to practice it when going to bed. Putting peace into your heart, then doing self-hypnosis (repeating what the hypnotist did with you) has a good chance of giving you a restful night, and that would solve many of your other practical problems. You didn't write if you have any remembered dreams. If you do, they could indicate past trauma, and its nature.

Your major practical problem is being in debt and unable to earn money. Currently, I suspect you are in despair mode: focusing on the problems. Choose instead to switch to solution mode: "This is a problem. What can I do to improve things?" Brainstorm on sources of income that use your skills, experience and abilities. For example, I do freelance editing. An ex-client has very severe physical handicaps. He makes picture frames for several galleries, although he can only stand at his workbench for 10 minutes at a time. An old lady I know knits things to order, sold via the internet. Another has an eBay shop. When people need to get rid of Granny's possessions because she went into a nursing home or has died, she values the material and sells it for them for a commission. A local shelter for intellectually handicapped adults has them making jam, wooden toys, all sorts of little items, which are sold.

So, what can you do? If you come up with something successful, it will help you in several ways:

1. Earn you some money.

2. Give you fun.

3. Give you hope that you have started to take charge of your life.

4. Give you a reason to stay awake.

Finally, let's look at your current need to sleep so much. The specialists have eliminated organic causes. I suspect the problem is habit. Because night sleep is not restful, you are tired. So, for years you have slept in the daytime, and your body got used to this. Anything like that is a slippery slope, and keeps getting worse.

The solution is gradual, monitored change. Set up a spreadsheet on which you have number of hours of sleep, intended and actual. Suppose currently you can get by with 15/24. Then you aim for 14.5/24 for a few days, then 14, then 13.5 and so on. Make the rate of progress slow.

Design activities that force you to stay awake the rest of the time. Exercise is very good. Winter is coming. Maybe you can get a job shoveling snow? Doing something with your hands is good, as is anything that's a moderate challenge. You could get a simple musical instrument like a recorder or mouth organ, and teach yourself to play.

I hope these suggestions are of use to you. Let me know.

Bob