[Bronte]

It sounds sensible for you to have an awake time at 6am. Going to bed at 10.30pm is fine as long as 1) you feel very sleepy
2) you are not waking for long periods during the night
Only go to bed when you are sleepy and wait until later if you are not.
It sounds like getting to sleep is your problem. Have you tried reading in bed? If I was you I think I would start trying to avoid the sleeping tablets. I completely understand that terror you feel that you may not get to sleep at all and how awful it is the next day but this course is about trying to change your mindset. It’s about not trying to control your sleep. It will happen on its own but you have to find things you can do that you enjoy when you can’t sleep. Like reading, watching tv, etc. When negative thoughts kick in I say thank you to my brain but I don’t need these. You have to work on the idea that it doesn’t matter if you don’t sleep, you can still get on with your life. Wakefulness is not a threat and you must allow your sleep to happen naturally and not try to control it yourself. Accept the bad nights and know the next night you will be so tired it will be better.
Hope that might help a bit. I am struggling a lot myself but I will not go back to any tablets as I don’t feel you can progress if you continue to use them.

[Bronte]

If you keep checking the clock during the night it adds to the worry about being awake. For example if it’s 3am and you check the time, you start to think ‘Oh no! I’m running out of time to sleep, I’ve got to be up at 6am and I’m going to feel terrible tomorrow. I need to hurry up and get to sleep’. All these kinds of thoughts fuel the sleep arousal that keeps you awake. If you think to yourself that it doesn’t matter what the time is, it helps you to relax and takes the emphasis off going to sleep.

[Author]

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