CHAPTER FOUR
Trigger Warning: Video may contain sensitive topics
GUIDED MENTAL HEALTH COMMENTARY
This might be a little discomforting to watch. Eva here is perhaps, at her most uncomfortable.


We voyeuristically bear witness to her physical and emotional despair.

It is difficult to glean exactly what is going on from this one video, but we shall try.
She could be suffering from pre-sleep cognitions, curling up in her father’s rocking chair in the deep of the night (4.48am, again), overwhelmed by shards of memories she cannot get out of her head (I’m seeing things, I’m hearing things).
 
Psychological fatigue, or “total body fatigue”, may also be something she is experiencing, after agonising nights of sleeplessness: an relentless condition that hampers cognitive, emotional and physical wellbeing.


Her pre-sleep cognitions may be a reason for her constant insomnia.

To worsen matters, her refrain of waking up at 4.48am indicates that she is constantly forced awake in the middle of the night, often by nightmares.
Sleep forms one of the most important bedrocks of recovery, with dreams being nature’s way of processing toxic emotions.


Waking up in the middle of the night with those emotions on end is unfortunate, because it means she was not physically able to process those emotions.  

For those with healthy sleep patterns, one usually experiences 5-6 cycles of Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, with each cycle lasting for approximately 1.5 hours and comprising 4 stages. Most of us wake up at stage 1, yet our dreams are at stage 3.


By constantly waking up at stage 3 (4.48am), the shock of negative emotions lingers in Eva throughout her waking day, unprocessed. It may cause her to be unhealthily fixated upon her suicidal feelings and obsessions.
Both pre-sleep cognitions and insomnia may be processed via therapy. In the presence of a trusted mental health professional, it will allow her a safe space to process the negative emotions, and from there, correct her sleeping habits.

It is possible to rest, unencumbered, every night.
1 This is a video of Eva’s memory.

As we walk with you through Eva’s room, you will find “home” videos of Eva’s memories. Here, we have an actress playing Eva, reading out the words of excerpts of 4.48 Psychosis (a favourite text of ours).
2 Click on the label for guided mental health commentary from accredited psychologists

3 The orange keywords are linked to a compendium for more in-depth reading.