Break the Cycle of Insomnia
If you have been struggling with insomnia, you know the cycle well. It’s morning, you haven’t slept enough… You’re feeling tired and unfocused all day long. You tell yourself you’ll go to bed early tonight and fantasize about that good night’s sleep you’ll finally get--only to find that once your head hits the pillow, your brain is wide awake. To distract yourself, you get on social media, watch a few episodes on Netflix, look up “why can’t I sleep” or “insomnia” or “how to fall asleep” on Dr. Google. Two hours later, you’re still wide awake, just more exhausted and frustrated. You turn off all your devices because you read that “screen time” is bad, and try to sleep again. Nope - your brain is awake. You look at the clock ticking beside you and start doing ‘sleep math’. The window of possible sleep is shortening with every passing minute. How is this happening again!?
If you have insomnia, you’ve also probably tried everything, like:
Over the counter sleep aids and supplements (melatonin, anyone?)
A new bedtime routine
Planned to go to bed early tonight
Drank a lot of chamomile tea (which ironically wakes you up to use the restroom)
Tried not to nap during the day
Played white noise
Tried meditation
Turned on a fan or tired to cool down the room
…And still your sleep is broken and terrible. You wake up morning after morning tired, unfocused, demoralized, and frustrated.
While there’s definitely a place for good sleep hygiene and “tricks” to help you fall asleep when your insomnia is just an occasional nuisance, they tend to be unhelpful if you suffer from chronic insomnia. If insomnia is a pattern night after night, consider the evidence-based, gold-standard treatment, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia
CBT-I is an effective behavioral therapy that helps to re-regulate your nervous system so that sleep can occur naturally when other causes of insomnia are ruled out (e.g., sleep apnea, alcohol use, etc).
In CBT-I, we work closely to begin tracking specific sleep activities. After an assessment, you begin to practice specific interventions which teach your body to fall asleep more easily. CBT-I can be a challenging treatment in some ways because it takes time and patience, but the payout—a chance to consistently have better sleep—is well worth it.
If you are interested in CBT-I, get started by scheduling a consultation appointment.