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Hi everyone,
Been doing ACT for about two weeks now and my sleep has turned around nicely, albeit with some ups and downs. As of three nights ago I stopped taking sleep aids and have been getting 6.5-7 hours of sleep! I’m hoping the upward trajectory continues. I’m thinking I’ll be implementing some light SR soon since it seems to be compatible with ACT.
I think the quick turnaround probably has to do with only having had insomnia for a couple months, whereas a lot of people here have been dealing with it for several months and years. Glad to hear everyone is sticking with their treatment plans!
Sorry to hear about your struggles, Suren. After you get some relief I would definitely try CBT or ACT again. Sometimes it just takes practice getting into the mindset. The hardest thing for me has been learning to be genuine in my acceptance and welcoming practices. Plus it takes time to catch yourself thinking a certain way and then defusing from the thoughts. It’s good to practice that daily even if you’re not actively doing ACT or CBT.
I also want to share with anyone who might be looking to cinch up their mindfulness practice that this book along with its guided meditations compliment Meadows’ book pretty well:
https://www.newharbinger.com/mindfulness-insomnia
It has four weeks’ worth of daily meditations with skill-building around mindfulness directly (and indirectly) related to insomnia. If you’re subscribed to The Sleep School app, there are a lot of mindfulness meditations on that as well.
Deb – I have had insomnia for about two months now (not as long as most people on here but still feels like a long time to me). It started as 2am awakenings, which makes sense in retrospect because I was living in a hotel and my sleep hygiene wasn’t the best, but once I started spiraling it turned into onset. Now, I have a hard time getting to sleep but I wake up I get back to sleep fairly easily.
8 hours of sleep last night! Definitely nice in contrast to two night ago when I was struggling. The past two nights have been a reminder that the tools are certainly NOT designed to make the bad feelings disappear. I think I still think of them that way when I’m having a hard time, but when I am disciplined and climb into bed with no expectations, sleep does find its way more easily. It’s hard to walk the line between “fix it” and “let it fix itself”
Hey all,
Just want to say thank you sharing your experiences with ACT. Meadows’ philosophy resonates with me and I wouldn’t have known about it if if wasn’t for this thread. It’s only been about a week since I’ve been following ACT protocol and I have yet to come totally off sleep meds, but already I have had three good nights in a row this week, which is encouraging. I feel like my relationship with my insomnia is changing for the better, although I have a really long way to go and need to keep reminding myself to be patient whenever I have nights that don’t go my way. Patience seems to be my biggest hurdle.
Thanks again for sharing your stories. They are encouraging and they remind me that everyone’s road is different.
