[Mr. Guy]

Hello everyone,

My name is Justin, and I am 19 years old. I have been going through insomnia for about almost a year now. Although I will not say I go through the worst kind of insomnia, and I am really thankful to Martin for providing help for people who go through all kinds of insomnia by having sleep coaching and advice and even having a YouTube channel for insomniacs who cannot afford sleep coaching.

To give you a brief backstory prior to my insomnia I used to sleep just fine and would sleep 8 hours a night. I loved my sleep very much and it wasn’t a problem for me. Then I started getting onset insomnia (trouble falling asleep) once in a while, but it wasn’t a big deal. Then as time went on, I started going through insomnia more and more. Then it got really bad where I pulled all-nighters. Then I did sleep research and heard of all the bad things that happen when you don’t get enough sleep and I was scared. Thanks to Martin my beliefs changed, but even now it is still a struggle. So, if anyone who can help who is recovering from insomnia and can answer these sleep questions would be great!

Q1: I don’t like it when I have a bad night, especially when it happens on days, I have been looking forward to for weeks and even months. Why is it fair for me to wait all this time for something that will be very fun, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to only have a bad night before it and be miserable the next day and not enjoy it? How can I say that I should just push through? I just want to enjoy my fun day before my insomnia ruined it.

Q2: I heard research done, I am not sure if it is accurate or not, but it says if you lose just one hour of sleep it will take 4 days for that to recover. So, experts say that for every 1 hour of sleep you lose takes 4 days to recover. So, if I have no sleep for just one night, it will take me over a month to ‘recover’ from that single bad night. How can I not stress about that?

Q3: If I have been sleeping really well for a while how can I not be stressed about getting one bad night? I can’t do any mediation because I hear that it is trying which you don’t want to try.

Q4: Does one or a couple of bad nights affect consciousness and awareness in feeling alive and happy? Just a thought.

Lastly, Q5: Does a bad night of sleep affect your cognitive abilities throughout the day? Will it damage my brain? Can I still be able to learn complex information and retain/remember it even after little or no sleep?

Thanks, Martin, and to anyone who answered my questions. I wish you all the best 🙂

[Martin Reed]

Hello Justin and welcome to the forum!

Q1: I don’t like it when I have a bad night, especially when it happens on days, I have been looking forward to for weeks and even months. Why is it fair for me to wait all this time for something that will be very fun, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to only have a bad night before it and be miserable the next day and not enjoy it? How can I say that I should just push through? I just want to enjoy my fun day before my insomnia ruined it.

It’s really difficult when that happens, isn’t it? And, when it happens you face a choice — you can decide to do what matters (even though it might be less pleasant) or you can decide not to do what matters. If you do the latter, will that make things better?

Q2: I heard research done, I am not sure if it is accurate or not, but it says if you lose just one hour of sleep it will take 4 days for that to recover. So, experts say that for every 1 hour of sleep you lose takes 4 days to recover. So, if I have no sleep for just one night, it will take me over a month to ‘recover’ from that single bad night. How can I not stress about that?

Yes, your mind will likely stress about something like that since it’s job is to look out for you! There’s no real science or evidence behind those claims, though. The body compensates for lost sleep all by itself — not only through sleep duration but through sleep architecture; spending more time in deep sleep after getting less sleep on previous nights, for example. None of this stuff can be controlled — and it’s when we try to do so that we get tangled up in a struggle.

Q3: If I have been sleeping really well for a while how can I not be stressed about getting one bad night? I can’t do any mediation because I hear that it is trying which you don’t want to try.

For as long as you are a human being, you will experience stressful and other difficult thoughts and feelings. There’s no such thing as a life without stress or difficult thoughts and feelings. We often end up struggling when we try to fight or avoid certain thoughts and feelings.

Q4: Does one or a couple of bad nights affect consciousness and awareness in feeling alive and happy? Just a thought.

That’s hard to say, since there’s no magic happiness switch in the brain that we can switch on or off. Some people win the lottery jackpot and experience depression. Other people are homeless or living in refugee camps and describe themselves as being happy. Instead of trying to pursue a certain way of feeling, perhaps something we have more control over is pursuing certain actions — doing things that matter to us and that keep us moving toward the kind of life we want to live, even in the presence of difficult thoughts and feelings and even when “happiness” isn’t present?

Lastly, Q5: Does a bad night of sleep affect your cognitive abilities throughout the day? Will it damage my brain? Can I still be able to learn complex information and retain/remember it even after little or no sleep?

There is no evidence that a bad night of sleep will damage the brain or prevent learning or memory recall.

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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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