[Marty04]

Hello – my story begins with years of chronic stress that eventually led to a panic attack last June. After that day I developed an anxiety disorder that ruined my sleep over time. Furthermore I believe I have developed depression because of the lack of sleep.

I wanted to know if the anxiety needs to be addressed first before CBTI can be effective. I started taking an antidepressant to treat it but I also know that it can make insomnia worse.

I am averaging 3-4 hours of broken sleep for the past 3 months now and I’m getting really scared. There might be 1-2 nights during the week where I’ll get 5-6 hours but that is seeming more like a distant memory now.

Please help. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Martin Reed]

Sorry for the delay in responding to your post. There is no need to focus exclusively on anxiety before tackling your sleep difficulties. Anxiety and insomnia are closely linked — studies show that when both exist together, improving sleep (for example, by implementing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques) also helps with symptoms of anxiety.

I hope this helps.

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