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Hope the book will help. Sometimes there is free therapy available as well, although the quality may not be a s good. Take care.
I am a counselor and I would agree with the professionals on that show, that trauma needs to be healed before certain conditions such as insomnia will go away. I know you think you can’t afford therapy, but maybe you can’t afford NOT to get therapy. Think of how the insomnia is impacting the quality of your life.
I’ve been reading a book called, Unlearn Your Pain, by Howard Schubiner. He’s also written a book called, Unlearn Your Anxiety and Depression. He talks about how people with chronic pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc. need to address and heal their trauma first in order for the other conditions to go away. The book is also a workbook for doing work by yourself on your trauma. I personally think it’s best to get help though. Trauma takes place through relationships and it will heal through relationships as well.
Just my two cents.
4 nights of implementation so far. My sleep window is from 12 to 6. I go to bed no later than 12 and get up no later than 6 am. The first two nights were like a honeymoon – I felt optimistic and hopeful and I think because of this I fell asleep quickly both nights. Then the insomnia hit again the third night. When I couldn’t fall asleep I was so disappointed and hated the thought of dragging myself out of bed. But I did and finally fell asleep around 2:30, so got 3 & 1/2 hours of sleep. Last night was worse. I got up twice and didn’t fall asleep until maybe 4:00 or later. But still had to drag myself out of bed at 6:00. I was really tired yesterday and today. Oh well. Let’s see how it goes tonight. I’ll keep you posted.
I tried the stimulus control method by myself first but was just making myself crazy and not getting any sleep. Now I’m doing it with Martin’s support and guidance. I’m only on day 4 of implementing the techniques and it’s not easy. But at least I know I have help to make sure I’m doing it the right way this time. I’ve heard that the first week is the hardest. I’ll be reporting on my progress in another forum topic, “Sudden severe insomnia.”
That makes sense about the relaxing. I don’t know how many people have told me I need to do meditation, take natural supplements, listen to relaxing CDs, take a hot bath in the evening, etc. in order to relax. But insomnia has nothing to do with that. It’s a learned problem so it needs to be unlearned.
Thank you. This is encouraging. I’m also a client. I’m on my fourth day of sleep restriction and slept less than 2 hours. I’m hoping to get better.
Sorry that didn’t work for you. I’m trying them both now and am on my 4th day. It’s not easy. Slept only 1 & 1/2 hours last night. Hope this works.
Daf – I got the feeling from Sasha Stephens that after she had solved her insomnia problem that her fear was finally gone (it’s towards the end of the book – she talks about being confident that she could sleep anywhere). I wonder what Martin thinks about this. I know for myself, my anxiety has gone, way, way down since I started this program. It’s amazing because just a little over a week ago I was starting to have major meltdowns (and scaring my poor husband to death!) Maybe it’s due to a combination of a few things:
- I haven’t had insomnia as long as you have
- I’m seeing results already from the therapy
- I know that if I get stuck, I can turn to Martin – so I feel like I’ve got a safety net
Martin, if you’re reading this, what do you think? Will we eventually become free from fear and have confidence that we can deal with whatever comes our way?
Yeah, ditch the drugs. Insomnia is a learned condition, not a “chemical imbalance” of the brain. So chemicals don’t help but just make it worse. Plus taking them just postpones the process of doing what you really need to be doing – unlearning the insomnia. And the longer you postpone, the more entrenched the negative patterns become.
Also, Martin Reed has two pages on this site that explain the two methods really well. They are Sleep Restriction and Stimulus Control.
I had dizziness when I was taking sleeping pills. One night I even fainted. Scared my poor husband half to death! Are you taking sleeping pills? Other than that, when I’m sleep deprived I tend to bump into things.
Hope you get the help you need. There are some good books listed on this forum with techniques that work.
Yes, I wish she would have explained more of what she actually did to completely cure herself. I saw another book recommended called “End Insomnia Struggles” by Colleen Ehrnstrom that looks good. It’s written by two psychologists who specialize in treating insomnia. It looks like they go into detail about the different therapies like sleep restriction and stimulus control, including the pros and cons and what might work best for different people depending on their situation. It also focuses on how to deal with our thoughts and emotions which is really important.
Good luck with the sleep restriction.
Yes, I’m just a beginner, so can’t claim that I know what I’m doing and what is best. But what I tried before for the last two months didn’t work, and now I’ve slept 2 full nights in a row using the sleep restriction. There were things that I tried in the past that I thought were going to work but then they lasted only a few days. So the real test is to see if this sleep restriction continues to work. Will keep you posted.
That’s how my insomnia started 2 months ago. The stress was gone but the insomnia stayed. I tried the pills, hypnotism, relaxation tapes, you name it, but they didn’t help. The pills just made things worse. I also understand the despair, and felt like I’m going crazy and just need to be put away (and hit over the head with something hard that would knock me out so I could finally sleep!)
I’ve realized that insomnia is a learned behavior, so it needs to be unlearned. But you need specialized help from someone who knows how to treat this and not just someone to give you pills. I would start with reading a success story by one of the clients here, where she talks about what finally worked for her after 10 years of insomnia. Go to the forum on “Sleep restriction” and scroll down to Martin Reed’s comment with a link to her. Or you can try this link – https://insomniacoach.com/forums/topic/you-can-do-it
This book also looks good which was recommended by a member here: “End Insomnia Struggles” by Colleen Ehrnstrom. This is written by psychologists who specialize in treating insomnia.
