[Nao]

Hello, I have posted here in the past that I completed Martin’s course around 1 year ago and it helped me a lot, mostly with staying asleep/falling back asleep and getting enough sleep most nights to feel rested and good during the day.

For weeks if not months now, though, my insomnia and sleep maintenance problems seem to have returned, with me waking up several times during the night and often having a hard time falling back asleep. Waking up early and having light sleep leaves me very loopy and out of it most of the day. The stress, anxiety, isolation, fear and depression with everything going on right now in the world doesn’t help.

I don’t understand why I continue to struggle so much after finishing CBT-I. Please help!

[Martin Reed]

You’re in a great position because you know exactly how to respond to sleep disruption — you can implement all the techniques you are familiar with and know from experience to be helpful!

Sometimes, it can be our desire to “understand” why we are experiencing sleep disruption that heightens arousal and can actually perpetuate sleep disruption (even though you might have answered that yourself with all the uncertainty going on related to COVID-19).

The fact of the matter is, we have no control over sleep. Waking during the night is a normal part of sleep. The body compensates for lost sleep all by itself. The body gives us more deep sleep when more deep sleep is needed. The body always gives us, at least, the minimum amount of sleep we need. We have more control over the quality of our days than the previous night(s) of sleep.

As soon as we become worried about sleep, try to control sleep, or modify our days in response to sleep, we make sleep far more difficult.

So, I would encourage you to implement all the techniques you know from experience to be helpful! You cannot control sleep, but you can control how you react to difficult nights — you can improve the quality of your days by doing things you enjoy and avoiding sedentary behavior. You can improve the quality of your nights by doing things more enjoyable than staying in bed when being in bed doesn’t feel good. You can build sleep drive by allotting an appropriate amount of time for sleep, and you can strengthen the body clock by maintaining a consistent final out of bed time each morning.

It’s our sleep-related thoughts and behaviors that turn what would otherwise be temporary sleep disruption into a longer-term problem. So, if you can avoid the thoughts and behaviors that end up disrupting sleep drive, weakening the body clock, and generating arousal, insomnia can never work its way back into your life for the long term.

I hope this helps — you’ve got this!

—

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.

[Nao]

Thanks very much for your feedback, Martin.
I will continue to try to keep these things in mind!

[Author]

Posts