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We all have automatic thoughts during the day (and night!) that can seem completely accurate when we first have them but if we take some time to evaluate them we can see that they are rarely as accurate as they first seem — and this can strip them of their power to generate a powerful emotional response.
So, don’t blame yourself for having these thoughts — just continue to recognize that they are just thoughts and that they aren’t even particularly accurate!
You might find this video helpful: What to do when anxious thoughts are making sleep difficult and leading to insomnia.
Are you implementing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques to help address the behavioral side of insomnia?
—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.
Setbacks are completely normal — the key to success is not to pay too much attention to them and to keep looking forward!
—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.
Why do you think you are finding it hard to fall back to sleep when you wake during the night?
Do you still feel sleepy when you wake and can’t fall back to sleep? It’s important to explore the possibility that you may simply have just got enough sleep.
If you feel as though you need more sleep, let’s dig a bit deeper. When do you normally go to bed at night, when do you get out of bed to start your day, and roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night?
—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.
So glad to hear that things are improving — how are you getting on since you posted?
—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.
Welcome to the forum. First of all, let me reassure you that you can sleep and that you don’t need medication to sleep! Have you looked into (or tried) cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)? It’s the best long-term treatment for chronic insomnia.
—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.
You should sleep in whichever position you feel comfortable in. It’s normal to move position during the night anyway, so the position you start out in really doesn’t matter.
Sleep position isn’t a perpetuating factor behind insomnia so it’s something you really don’t need to spend much time thinking or worrying about.
I hope this helps!
—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.
How are you getting on since you posted, Okaph? I’m glad to hear that you were noticing improvements after just one week of sleep restriction! That is very impressive and encouraging!
Usually, the best thing to do when you feel anxious is to try to uncover and evaluate the thought that created the anxiety. In your example, it seems that you had the thought that you would not sleep. How accurate do you think such a thought is? I am sure there have been nights when you didn’t sleep, but have there been nights when you did sleep? How many nights are there when you do sleep compared to when you don’t sleep?
The fact that you reached for the Ambien and then slept actually proves the inaccuracy of the thought you had that triggered so much anxiety — you did sleep. Sleeping pills cannot generate sleep. The only thing that can generate sleep is your own biological sleep drive.
When you are able to identify and evaluate the thought that is creating anxiety, you will often see that the thought that is causing so much worry isn’t very accurate — and this can make the thought less worrying.
You might want to watch this video, “What to do when anxious thoughts are making sleep difficult and leading to insomnia.”
I hope this helps!
—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.
Welcome to the forum, Welly! First of all, it’s important to recognize that you CAN drop off to sleep — if you stay awake for long enough, you will eventually sleep. However, if falling asleep is a problem, there are definitely things that can be done to make that process a bit easier.
At the current time, when do you usually go to bed and when do you get out of bed to start your day? Roughly how many hours of sleep do you get on a typical night, and why do you think you find it hard to fall asleep when you get into bed?
—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.
Hello almondbrowneyes and welcome to the forum. So, we can see that you are sleeping but you would almost certainly benefit from getting more sleep! So, let’s see what we can do about that!
When do you currently go to bed at night, and when do you get out of bed to start your day in the morning?
How accurate do you think the belief that you will NEVER sleep again actually is? Have you ever heard of someone who NEVER gets any sleep whatsoever or someone who has lost the ability to sleep?
—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.
Hello Benny! Candles, melatonin, and meditation cannot generate sleep — so I’m not surprised that they didn’t do anything!
What time do you normally go to bed at night and when do you get out of bed to start your day? Are you still typically averaging around five to six hours of sleep? When you wake after 10-15 minutes, what do you think is stopping you from falling back to sleep?
—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.
This sounds psychological to me, and could very well be a symptom of conditioned arousal. In other words, you have learned that if you don’t fall asleep between 10:00 PM and 11:30 PM you will find it hard to sleep because this has happened so many times.
Let me ask you this, have you ever had a difficult night of sleep when you fell asleep between 10:00 PM and 11:30 PM, or is your night always 100% perfect when you’re able to fall asleep between those times?
Let me also ask you this — if you forced yourself to stay awake for five days straight (I am not suggesting this!), do you think you’d be able to fall asleep outside of that 10:00 PM to 11:30 PM sleep window? I imagine you would be able to because you would be extremely sleepy.
It sounds as though arousal is the perpetuating factor behind your insomnia — and the best treatment option for chronic insomnia is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).
Nothing in your post makes me think that you wouldn’t be a good candidate for CBT-I.
I hope this helps, and good luck!
—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.
Ups and downs are completely normal — and that’s why you should use at least one week of sleep diary data (ideally two weeks) before evaluating your sleep window. How are you getting on since you posted, hutch?
—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.
Hello Leo and welcome to the forum.
First of all, it’s important to recognize that you CAN sleep! It would be impossible for you to be here and typing out your post if you hadn’t slept since 1999!
Ultimately, if you have chronic insomnia the best way to improve your sleep for the long term is to implement cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques.
Nothing in your post makes me think that you wouldn’t find CBT-I helpful, Is this something you’ve ever tried?
—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.
A sleep diary isn’t intended to make you think more about sleep, but in the short term I can see how that might sometimes be the case! You might find this video helpful, “Why keeping a sleep diary when you have insomnia is so helpful and rarely increases worry or anxiety“.
In my experience, it’s quite rare for people with chronic insomnia to check the time during the night and then feel calm and relaxed after doing so. In fact, you might be the first person to have told me this! If that’s the case, then go ahead and check the time!
By default, I suggest avoiding this because most people find that checking the clock leads to more worry and anxiety as they calculate (and worry about) how much time they have left for sleep — and this makes sleep more difficult.
To answer your question, if you wake and feel calm and relaxed, it’s OK to stay in bed since conditions are right for sleep. If you start to feel worried, anxious, or frustrated, that’s your cue to get out of bed and do anything you find relaxing and enjoyable until you feel calm and relaxed again.
I hope this helps!
—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.
I don’t think there’s any reason to believe that you won’t be able to improve your sleep and move away from a polyphasic sleep pattern. Just as you “learned” to sleep in two shifts, you can learn to sleep in one shift — it will just take time and consistency. Your sleep certainly hasn’t been ruined! I hope this helps.
—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.
