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Hi.
Sleep-onset is my problem, I find sleep restriction w/ SCT really effective, But it takes quite a bit of willpower sometimes, I’ll post more later.
Mike
Well, I guess this (2nd rough night) is what SRT says “2 steps forward, 1 step back”. It’s tricky getting out of bed after 15-30 min (if still awake) – esp since the house is chilly at night (up north outside temp is below 0).
SCT & SRT works but you don’t feel too great during the process. And did I say it takes a seemingly Herculean effort ? 2 weeks ago I had a few bad nights then good for a week and a half. It’s all about jump-starting the sleep-system weakened by years of bad habits – staying in bed all night awake, surfing internet late night, sedentary lifestyle, overweight, NST’s, etc…
Last night went to bed after watching “The Godfather (1972)” at around 01h45 in the wee hours of the morn. Was rather exhausted and committed a SCT sin : I stayed in bed all night ! I got around 3 hrs of light sleep only. At the cottage with extended family and creaky floor so didn’t want to disturb anybody. And I have to drive back home for 2 hours tomorrow – another sleep pressure situation.
Man I find those NST’s to be a real PITA ! Lol. I’m reading “End Insomnia Struggles” by Colleen Ehrnstrom (but not before bed) – great book ! I tried “The Sleep Book :Sleep Well Every Night” by Guy Meadows – not a bad perspective but he lost me on the pointer of just staying in bed sleepless as opposed to Martin Reed’s (and Colleen Ehrnstrom‘s) SCT advice of getting out of bed after 15 – 30 min.
What is NST? Yeah, the SCT and SRT are not for wimps! I first read about them in a book and the author recommended getting the support of a cognitive behavioral therapist to do this work because it’s not easy. That’s why I decided to hire Martin. I figured there were probably a lot of cognitive behavioral therapists where I lived, but probably none with this particular expertise. I had my first night of SRT last night and slept 5.5 hours out of the restricted 6 hours. Off to a good start.
I found this great book : “End The Insomnia Struggle”. In it it details everything about SRT and SCT. Btw, Started 2 weeks ago….the first 2,3 days were rough but fine for a week and a half. Had a relapse last night where I worried about getting good rest for a 2-hour drive to my country cottage. This kept me awake (must’ve got up as per SCT around 7 times) until 6AM. Annoying to say the least. Finally the drive wasn’t all that bad. Just gotta continue reenforcing my positive sleep association with my bed thru SCT. But I know it’s a long-term process to unlearn my negative associations.
I spent the last 3 years just staying in bed (as per Guy Meadows instructions) and it initially helped (it seemed….. placeabo effect ?) but ultimately I got more and more insomnia episodes. It seemed as though my sleep drive got weaker and weaker. Then I went SCT and SRT cold turkey 3 weeks ago.
What I’m saying is that it takes some cohones to stick to SCT but it works ! The easiest & worst thing to me is staying in bed awake forcing sleep. You can’t force it ! It comes all by itself (sleepy feeling). Anything really worth it takes sometimes a huge effort but ultimately so worth it. Right now I’m setting bedtime at 2AM and wake up at 8AM (I cheat and sleep in max 30 min extra).
Sorry for the rant, lol.
Mike from Canada.
@boke How many years has this been going on for you total? What do you think caused your Insomnia?
Deb, NSTs are Negative Self-Talks. A pita but you try to reword those NSTs into PSTs or at least lesser more realistic NSTs.
Goes back to ‘84 until ,89. Reappeared in ‘91. Licked it in early ‘92 (intensive jogging program). Reappeared in 2000. Have had it sporadically since.
1st classic : clock-watching (stopped years ago)
2nd classic: 7 hours left……. must have 5 hours left….must have 3 hours left….still awake…daylight ? Crap !
3rd classic : occasional full-time dread during the day shifting towards anxiety at bedtime.
So you have gone through this since 2000 and have never been able to kick it? Why not??
Ever try SRT?Sorry I saw that you have started. I guess my question should be why did it take you so long to try it?
17 years is wild.
Yep. Tried SRT at around 2015 and it worked right off the bat in so far that I slept like a baby right away. Almost like a placebo effect although it definitely works. So never really actually did SRT until a few weeks ago. I did the 2am to 8am window. Didn’t drop off after 20min so did SCT – did a couple of out-of-bed-and-read-in-living-room-until-sleepy-then-back-in-bed interludes. Got a few hours of deep sleep and was ok for a week and a half.
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