[Elizabeth.ca]

I develop sleeping problem during the COVID 19 and trying to get rid of my insomnia .i try everything nothing is working looking for solutions .Now I’m doing sleep restriction.

Q

[Jaran]

Hello Elizabeth. I’m pretty sure most of us here can relate to the frustration and anxiety you are feeling about sleep.

For me, I had to learn to let go of that anxiety. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

The turning point for me was a 90 minute YouTube video called “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia: The Deep Dive.” It is a round table discussion with Martin and two other therapists. So many things they said struck home for me. I learned the basic tenants of CBTI (sleep restriction, stimulus control, etc…), and that the mental side of it — facing the anxiety and not trying to “make” sleep happen– is key. I also realized I’m not alone and there is hope.

From there, I found many other short videos and articles on the web. Some are much better than others, but IMO Martin’s are among the best.

[Scott]

Hi Elizabeth.ca,

Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on implementing sleep restriction, a core component of CBT-I to restore your sleep! Usually, sleep recovers as soon as the initial trigger that caused sleep disruption is no longer present. If it doesn’t, it usually means the way we think about our sleep has changed and we’ve implemented new behaviors in an attempt to improve our sleep. How long have you been implementing sleep restriction and how has it been working for you?

Scott J

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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.

[Elizabeth.ca]

Hi Scott.
I m doing sleep restriction for 2.5 weeks from 12pm to 6am only sleeping 2 -3 hours a night today only 0 hours . Any tips to improve my sleep .
Elizabeth.

[turtlestamp]

Hey @Elizabeth.ca, just to want to make sure you don’t feel alone in this; Note your sleep schedule is very similar to mine 🙂 i.e. the last week and a half I’ve had several sleepless nights and then typically anywhere from 2-4 hours (but they’re broken i.e. one hour here and another two or three later).

I’ve been more laid back about the sleep schedule (until a few days ago) which isn’t helping, so I think it’s a great sign you’re being consistent about it.

One tip I can share that I hope can help; I’ve been going through this for about a month and a half, the first month was terrible, even though I was actually sleeping a lot more, sleeping somewhere between 3-6 hours ! Ironically, when I accepted the fact it’s going to take time to heal from this and more importantly began to befriend wakefulness the nights became better, and more importantly the days were immensely better. I came to a conclusion all the day time symptoms I was feeling (depression, physical aches, frustration, …) were 80%+ because of my constant struggle, when I changed this attitude, there have been some days where I sleep 2 hours and actually feel better then when I recall sleeping 7+ hours 🙂 … of course it’s not perfect, you still feel fatituge and some aches and the emotions do surface from time to time … but I’ve concluded the attitude (namely your acceptance of the situation and not “fighting”) is a huge driver of how you feel.

The other very important thing was after staying in bed for some period of time and feeling like I’m not going to sleep, I now stop trying and do something else, in strict CBTi you should leave the bedroom but I’ve been ignoring this and just doing something enjoyable in the bedroom (for me it’s watching youtube on my phone with a bluelight filter … yes, this violates everything you’ll hear, but it’s worked great for me), I’ll typically watch something for an hour then get very sleepy and attempt to sleep again (which works sometimes, and other times works but only for say 30 min) then I repeat the process. I think if you do something similar, the key is something you enjoy, it’s probably even better to do it out of the bedroom, this will help a lot as well.

Lastly, I know CBTi involves a sleep journal and stimulus control (getting out of bed after X min), I would avoid clocks at any cost, particularly initially, instead of getting out of bed after X min, do so once you get the feeling (“I’m not falling asleep”, “I’m frustrated”, …) if you’re laying down and feel tired I would give yourself the chance to sleep.

[Elizabeth.ca]

Hi Turtlestamp Thank you for very long email I have problem sleeping sometimes 2 hours or 3 hours . Sometimes I feel very sleepy at 11pm waiting to 12 pm I have problem to fall asleep if I can’t sleep I usually get out of the bed and watch tv with yellow glasses .During the day I feel very tired .i used to sleep 9 to 10 hours a night that was before COVID 19.All my friends they don’t have a sleeping problem .and they don’t understand me .l will try sleep restriction for two months l keep watching Martin video he is awesome .i hope you feel better. Elizabeth.

[Chee2308]

Hello Elizabeth.ca

It is often the impatience, and the frustration of how long it takes that make sleep issues stickier for a lot of people. Ultimately it is the start of giving up doing too much to sleep and the mental shift from seeing insomnia as a problem towards being okay with *any* amount of sleep that huge improvements start to be made. You may not even know when the mental shift starts but it often begins with caring
less, bit by bit, about how you sleep, besides that also setting a reasonable amount of time for sleep (6-8 hours) and most importantly a regular bedtime schedule that sets you on the path to sleeping well again. Good luck.

[Author]

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