Clinical psychologist Steve Orma was a little over 40 years old when he developed insomnia — difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
He couldn’t stop thinking about it. “I started to enter the mental state that most people find themselves in. I worried: ‘What’s happening? Is something wrong with me?’”, he says.
This fear of not being able to sleep is a phenomenon called “sleep anxiety,” says Orma, who became a specialist in insomnia treatment. If untreated, this anxiety can prevent people from actually falling asleep.
“The more you focus on it, the less likely you are to sleep, which in turn increases the anxiety. It’s a vicious cycle,” he says.
One of the most effective ways to overcome sleep anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). It is well-studied, does not rely on sleep medications, and has proven effective for clinical insomnia. Orma used this treatment to improve his sleep and it is now the main focus of his therapeutic practice.
Typically, a CBT-I program lasts six to eight weeks, and each week you and a professional work on a strategy to reset sleep habits and restructure your thoughts about rest.
But you don’t need to be in an official program to benefit from CBT-I. Whether to deal with sleep-related stress or just the occasional bad night of sleep, these CBT-I practices can help.
Wake up at the same time every day
Having a consistent wake-up time helps the body know when it’s time to feel sleepy, says Aric Prather, sleep scientist and author of “The Sleep Prescription: 7 Days to Unlocking Your Best Rest” (A Prescrição do Sono: 7 Dias para Desbloquear o Seu Melhor Descanso). Sleep signals are managed by your circadian rhythm, that is, your body’s biological clock. A fixed wake-up time keeps your biological clock running properly.
Prather uses the analogy of a “sleep balloon.” When you wake up, your sleep balloon is empty. Your balloon fills with sleepiness throughout the day. When it’s full, you feel ready to sleep. Waking up at the same time every day, even on weekends, keeps your sleep signals consistent. Focus on a relaxation period, not a fixed bedtime.
Instead of trying to force yourself to go to bed at a specific time, even if you’re not sleepy, focus on relaxing before bed, suggests Dr. Ravi Aysola, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Choose a time to transition from daytime activities to nighttime ones. This may include disconnecting from screens, putting on comfortable clothes, and dimming the house lights.
He says that having a relaxation period instead of a rigid bedtime can help reduce the feeling that you need to sleep immediately — and can reduce the anxiety that arises when that doesn’t happen.
Schedule your “worry time”
If all your stress arises at bedtime, schedule a “worry time” in your agenda during the day, suggests Prather. “Use your thinking time, when you’re more rested, to worry.”
That way, if your mind starts wandering to your tax return, issues with the kids, or the mess in the garage while you’re in bed, “you’ll have a way to say: ‘I’ve already worried about that,’” he explains.
Try reserving just 10 or 15 minutes at the same time every day to write down what’s bothering you. This can help your brain relax when you lay your head on the pillow, says Prather.
Be mindful when monitoring sleep
Managing sleep-related anxiety also means being aware of the amount of information you absorb about your sleep.
The prevalence of sleep-tracking devices and wearables has led to the emergence of orthosomnia, a type of insomnia developed from the anxiety of wanting to get perfect sleep data, says Aysola.
Sleep monitors can provide useful information about how you slept, but it’s important to have a healthy level of skepticism about the data and a plan for what you’ll do with it, he adds.
If you use these devices to monitor your sleep, he suggests asking yourself: “Is this information helping you make changes in your behavior or lifestyle, or is it stressing you out and worsening the insomnia?”
If you notice that you’ve been waking up feeling more rested, for example, that may indicate that your new relaxation period and earlier morning alarm are starting to work for you. If you tend to fixate on your sleep monitor data, try logging your sleep with paper and pen. This can help you focus on how you feel about your sleep, rather than getting hung up on the numbers.
Changing your sleep habits is only half the battle, says Orma. The rest of the work involves changing your mindset. Sleep varies from night to night and everyone has a bad night of sleep from time to time, so adjust your expectations accordingly.
“When you have that mindset, your sleep starts to improve,” he says.
Source: npr.org by Andee Tagle and Lennon Sherburne