A resident of the English county of Surrey spoke about a rare phobia, because of which she was afraid to die in her sleep. Her story is quoted by the tabloid The Mirror. Rachael Williams, 26, a mother of three, experienced increased anxiety when her younger sons were diagnosed with autism. The woman was worried about the full development of children, trying to create comfortable conditions for them. “I tried 110 percent,” she says.
She started having trouble sleeping when her husband, Craig, went to Aldershot, Hampshire, for a year to study to be a mechanic. Williams was four months pregnant, bearing her third son. “I was so afraid of dying in my sleep. After all, then no one would have found me and my children. Nobody would help them,”the woman says. "I was worried if they could survive and wait for their father to return." The Briton recalls how she could not sleep until five in the morning, until her sons woke up.
Williams was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. “Fatigue drove me crazy. I was not myself,”she said. Despite the pregnancy, the woman was rapidly losing weight. Suspecting that she had a serious illness, she went to the hospital for help. The patient was diagnosed with hypnophobia and referred for treatment to a psychiatrist. The doctor taught her to cope with attacks of fear, including through hypnosis. Craig returned home safely and Williams began to sleep more comfortably. “Now I see a light at the end of the tunnel,” she concluded. "I feel happier and less anxious before bed." Hypnophobia is an irrational and uncontrollable fear of sleep. The disease can be cured by eliminating all the factors that cause anxiety, or with the help of cognitive psychotherapy.