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Hello, I’m new to this program and not an expert, but I suspect that the reason you may have trouble sleeping after a bad night is that you’re even more anxious at that point (“why can’t I sleep? My body is clearly tired because I didn’t sleep last night. What’s wrong with me?”) and your problem-solving brain is searching for some logical explanation as to why you aren’t sleeping. I don’t think “overtiredness” is a true physiological barrier to sleep. Eventually your body will get the sleep it needs. Meanwhile, try to relax and enjoy your nightly downtime as much as you can. I hope this is helpful, and I wish you luck.
Hi YogiShabi, I am new here as well and certainly not an expert on any of this. I tried CBTI a while back. It was a miserable failure. There were very strict rules about the sleep window. I was told that if I didn’t fall asleep within 15 minutes during the sleep window, I had to get out of bed and engage in some restful activity in a different room (reading, taking a bath, etc.) until I felt sleepy, then go back to bed and try again. And again. And again. I stuck it out for nearly two weeks, getting less sleep than I’d ever had. The nights were horrible, and I dreaded being in bed. I was an anxious wreck. Then during the day, I was a zombie and unable to do my job or care for my family. Finally, I quit CBTI and got a prescription for sleeping pills.
My takeaway is that it’s more helpful to do whatever you want during the sleep window. If it feels good to lie in bed and just rest, do that. If you want to read in bed, do that. If you’d rather get up and do something more active, go for it. Whatever feels right and reduces anxiety and allows you to feel like your bed is a friendly place. There’s nothing you can do to make yourself sleep, so just try to enjoy the downtime as best you can and trust that one way or another, your body will get what it needs.
That’s my two cents. The strict CBTI program (I call it “sleep jail”) backfired badly in my case, so I’m wary of rigid rules surrounding the sleep window.
Good luck to you!
