Hey all my fellow sleepless cats!

How are you? I hope you are British heat. Us Sheffield lasses cannae deal!

Just writing a post as I am wide awake on a school night and thinking about all of the anonymous submissions to the zine. I remember one that really inspired me to think more about those who suffer with insomnia we all can say that we have bouts of sleeplessness but perhaps not to the extent that it is making us sick.

This is the submission that inspired me to draw a comic on insomnia, for the late night reader

‘it all started when I stopped being able to sleep. The main problem was that I didn’t really want to for fear of terrible dreams about what happened to me. I’d find myself putting my clothes back on in the middle of the night and going downstairs as if it were morning. Days to weeks of no sleep at all were starting to affect me at work, I couldn’t function and then I became unable to behave like myself…

The submission was anonymous and goes on to speak about the importance of speaking to friends, GP’s and eventually a therapist. THere was no way that I could thank whomever submitted the story to speak more or o thank them, but it inspired me to create a comic based on frustration with sleep, and to turn it into some kind of dreamy adventure that people could follow or read to accompany them on a long stint of unrest. It is called Adventures In Somnia, (a daft play on the word Somnia/the suggestion that Somnia is a place)

Having a close friend who suffers a grey deal with long stretches of being unable to sleep at all, I have found it to be a very distressing condition that can affect a person’s whole life.

Insomnia is a serious mental health issue in which i have great empathy for those who suffer. being unable to sleep is the tip of the iceberg.

I’d really like to speak more to sufferers to get a bit of perspective for future collaboration. if you would like to talk or share a story please contact designingoutsuicide@gmail.com.

Please do seek help if you are suffering, from your local GP or speak to professional and caring people via helplines such as Samaritans http://www.samaritans.org and Mind.

Ps I’ve written this on my phone, so its a bit higgledy piggledy, as its too late to go searching for my mains for my laptop – I am a loud and messy person so would wake the whole street!

Lisa x