Tag: insomnia
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How Sleep Problems Stick Around: The 3P Model of Insomnia
Bad nights versus insomnia disorder Everyone has a bad night from time to time. However, for some, the one bad night turns into a steady stream of bad nights. Suddenly, you are not having a bad night anymore. You have insomnia. The question is: why do sleep problems sometimes stick around? In this post, I…
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Simple Ways To Get Better Sleep If You Have Insomnia Based on Sleep Science
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…
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4 Evidence-Based Strategies To Stop Racing Thoughts At Night
Racing and intrusive thoughts at bedtime Some people go to bed feeling right and ready for sleep. However, when their head hits the pillow, racing thoughts start enveloping their minds and they begin to feel wide awake. To counter these thoughts, they may engage in a bunch of different strategies: suppressing thoughts, distracting themselves, counting…
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Five Benefits Of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy For Insomnia
CBT for Insomnia as the first line treatment Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is considered the gold standard for treatment of insomnia. It is the preferred first-line treatment method compared to medication for chronic insomnia for reasons discussed in the post CBT-I works by leveraging our sleep systems to address the causes of insomnia.…
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An Overview Of Chronic Insomnia
What is insomnia? Chronic insomnia is a sleep disorder that is associated with difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, and/or waking up too early. Beyond this general definition, there are a few important aspects of insomnia that I believe are important for people to know. First, insomnia is not just a nighttime disorder. It is a…
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Why You Shouldn’t Always Give Yourself 20 Minutes To Fall Back Asleep
The problem with the 20 minute rule People with chronic insomnia have often heard the advice to get out of bed if you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes. Inherently, this is not a bad idea. The recommendation comes from an evidence-based treatment for insomnia, known as stimulus control. The components of stimulus control are…
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Myth Busting Six Common Worries In People With Insomnia
Scary worries in the dark People with chronic insomnia have some pretty scary thoughts when they are anticipating another sleepless night. “I’m not going to be able to sleep and I won’t be able to function” “Tomorrow is going to be terrible” “Why can’t I sleep? I can’t handle another crappy night” As you might…
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Changes In Older Adulthood That Lead To Insomnia And Tips To Fix Them
Insomnia in older adults Chronic insomnia – difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early – is quite common in older adults. Studies have found that 15 to 35% of the older population struggle with insomnia symptoms (Ohayon, 2002). In older adults, insomnia is linked to increased risk of accidents, physical and mental…
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Why It Feels Like We Haven’t Slept For Days In Insomnia
“I haven’t slept in over a week” You’ll sometimes hear of instances in people with chronic insomnia saying that they haven’t slept a wink in days or even weeks on end. That’s a terrifying feeling when you are worried about the effects of not sleeping on your functioning and overall health. To be honest, as…
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What Is Normal Sleep? From A Sleep Science Perspective
Introduction There’s a lot of myths out there when it comes to sleep and what is normal sleep. For example, many people fall victim to the idea that everybody needs at least eight hours of sleep to feel good and healthy. This is actually not true. Moreover, for people who are shorter sleepers (e.g., those…
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