[Eibhlin]

Hi everyone. I have been practicing sleep restriction and getting up during the night when I wake. I started this after reading a CBT I self-help book. My sleep has got worse since I started 10 days ago, and I’m exhausted. I know this is to be expected, and I am motivated to continue. But it would be good to have some idea of when I might expect things to improve, and to feel less alone in this.

[Martin Reed]

Welcome to the forum, Eibhlin!

What’s your cue to get out of bed at night, what do you do when you are out of bed, and what’s your cue to return to bed?

Oh, and while I am churning out all the questions, here’s another one: What’s your goal when you get up during the night?

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Eibhlin]

When I wake during the night I lie awake for a while, and often start to feel anxious about getting back to sleep. I get up to avoid this and break the association between bed and anxious rumination. I go downstairs and read. I find it difficult to work out when to go back to bed. I feel tired but not sleepy, and morning and my scheduled time for getting up are approaching. I guess I am still anxious about this, ie about getting through the next day on so little sleep. I go back to bed but usually don’t get back to sleep. I know I can get through the next day, I have been managing on around 4 hours sleep for a while now. But I also know I feel much better if I’ve had 5 or 6 hours sleep. So I guess I want that, and probably wanting more sleep isn’t helping. I find this whole thing paradoxical. I know that making an effort to sleep is a waste of time, but of course everybody who’s taking part in a sleep program is putting lots of effort into getting more sleep.

[Martin Reed]

Since anxiety tends to show up from time to time, for as long as we are human beings, perhaps taking actions to avoid anxiety might be getting you a bit tangled up in actions that might not be too helpful over the longer term (since anxiety always comes back, right?).

Perhaps you might shift your goal to something you have a bit more control over at night. So, instead of trying to make sleep happen or trying to fight or avoid difficult thoughts and feelings such as anxiety, you might give yourself permission to experience wakefulness (especially since wakefulness is part of sleep) and if that wakefulness starts to feel really unpleasant you might simply do something more pleasant instead — and that more pleasant activity might be something you do out of bed, or in bed.

I hope there’s something useful here!

—

If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

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