Introduction

The world is full of myths, misconceptions, and misinformation about how to treat insomnia. For example, people talk about sleep hygiene as a solution to insomnia; in reality, sleep hygiene is not an effective strategy to treat insomnia. Even physicians tend to immediately jump to sleep medication, which most people do not prefer because they have side effects and are a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

The science of sleep research is very effective. However, they are hidden under a scientific guise that makes it hard for people to access. Moreover, treatments like cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia are hard to come by because it is expensive and there are not a lot of trained folks out there providing the service.

All in all, it is just hard to get the right information in a simple way that can lead to immediate positive benefits in your life. This article provides a few suggestions based on what we know in sleep research that you can use to start breaking out of the insomnia cycle and getting some better sleep.

Insomnia is a vicious cycle

Something that we need to remember about insomnia is that it can be a bit of a trap. That is, our thoughts and behaviours when we have insomnia can often sabotage us and maintain our problem. For example, when we struggle with insomnia and are downright exhausted, we might:

  • Go to bed early
  • Press the snooze button
  • Cancel plans or activities
  • Reduce our exercise
  • Take naps
  • Worry about not getting enough sleep

All of these compensatory behaviours make a lot of sense when we are exhausted. But the problem is that they actually maintain our sleep problem. We need to keep this in mind because the recommendations below are very effective, but they run counterintuitive to what we think makes sense. With that being said, let’s get to the recommendations!

Recommendation 1: Build sleep drive

Sleep drive is how likely we are to fall asleep at any given moment. The more sleep drive. we have, the more deep sleep we get. However, when we are exhausted, we reduce activities that increase build-up of sleep drive that would give us the deep refreshing sleep that we need.

For example, we may decide to stay in the bed instead of going out to take a walk. As discussed, this behaviour makes perfect sense, but it is a recipe to have another night of poor sleep.

To break out of the cycle, we need to engage in behaviours that help us build up sleep drive. This means:

  • Getting out of bed in the morning as soon as possible
  • Taking walks and staying active throughout the day
  • Trying not to go to bed until your typical bedtime
  • Avoiding naps and snoozing

Try to spot times in your day that could be contributing to low sleep drive. Although it will be tough at first, making a conscious decision to continue building our sleep drive will be helpful to get the deep sleep that we desperately need.  

Recommendation 2: Keep to a consistent daily rhythm

When we have insomnia, we might try to compensate by going to bed early and sleeping in as much as possible. This creates a lot of disruption in our routine and can actually lead to symptoms of jet lag. For example, if you get out of bed on Friday at 8:00am and then Saturday on 11:00am, that’s essentially the same as travelling from California to New York!

Therefore, we need to do our best to stay consistent in our routines. This means going to bed and getting out of bed at fairly consistent times. As a benefit, getting out of bed at the same time even after a crappy night means you will have more sleep drive the next night.

To further strengthen our circadian rhythm, I would also encourage you to generally keep to a similar routine each day even outside of sleeping. For example, timing your meals and exercise. There’s no need for perfection (but it is helpful to have in the back of your mind).

Associate the bed with sleep

People with insomnia has often created associations with the bed and wakefulness. If you notice that you often go to bed sleepy, but then feel wide awake the moment your head hits the pillow, this means that the bed has been associated with wakefulness.

This association is created because people with insomnia spend a lot of time in bed being awake – feeling distressed, worried, and generally just not having a good time. Over time, our brain begins to develop conditioned arousal, which is a fancy term for being anxious anytime we are in our bedroom.

We need to break this association. Fortunately, there are a few recommendations that are very effective to making sure that we start thinking the bedroom means sleep:

  • Only go to bed when sleepy
  • Get out of bed when you are not sleepy (do something pleasant instead until you feel sleepy)
  • Avoid doing activities in bed outside of sleep (e.g., watching movies in bed)
  • Try to not take naps

Typically, if you notice you are fully awake or if sleep has not come in 20-30 minutes, try to get out of bed and do something pleasant. For example, reading a book or watching a comedy show. Don’t try to force yourself to fall back asleep. Simply go to bed when you notice the sleepy come back. If you don’t, just wait until tomorrow night. You’ll have more sleep drive anyway.

Recommendation 4: Reduce arousal

Sleep and stress are incompatible. This makes sense – we wouldn’t want to be sleeping if there was a bear around. However, we need to reduce stress  to make sure that sleep comes easily when there is no immediate threat. Typically, relaxation strategies are quite helpful in that regard. I would encourage you do something each day that relaxes you. For example, taking a walk or doing some breathing exercises.

However, one key piece to note is not to intentionally do relaxation exercises in the moment to try to fall asleep. When we start making these strategies part of our efforts to sleep, this can backfire and lead to more anxiety. Therefore, try to use relaxation exercises in morning or early evening to create a routine.

Recommendation 5: Be okay with not being asleep

People with insomnia can be described as having a phobia of being awake. They do everything they possibly can at night to try and fall asleep. However, this tends to lead to more anxiety, which makes it harder to fall asleep. What we resist, persists.

To relieve yourself of your suffering, I would encourage you to try your best to reframe the awakening as something that is positive. For example, maybe watching a show that you like or catch up the book that you have been meaning to read. If we can come to accept being awake, then our anxiety about not sleeping reduces. Paradoxically, this means sleep will likely come more quickly.

Some people might be worried about performance the next day. There is good research to show that people with insomnia’s performance is not that different from good sleepers. It is just that it all feels more effortful. So trust your resilience!

Recommendation 6: Prioritize the next night

We get trapped in the insomnia cycle when we are constantly striving to save the past night. We usually do not do much for the last night and we set ourselves poorly for the next night.

When thinking about your behaviour, consider if they are a way to make sure the next night is better or if you are trying to make up for the past night. By focusing on prioritizing the next night, we give ourselves a fighting chance to. break out of the insomnia cycle.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this post gives you a few tips to support your sleep and think like a sleep scientist. If you find yourself caught in an insomnia trap, remember to do your best to prioritize the next night by building sleep drive, keeping to a regular rhythm, and make sure that the bed is for sleeping (and not being awake). I believe in you – you got this!  

Best wishes,

Parky

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash