Some had a slight effect, improving my sleep a little (bedsocks), some worked during the course of treatment but stopped when I stopped (acupuncture), some had no affect whatsoever - Valerian supplements, some seemed heartily boring - going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, and others seemed a little extreme.
However, one of the extreme ones did actually work and so I will recommend it.
Initially it seems counter-intuitive, you actually sleep less and spend less time in bed. When you stop to think about it, it does make sense. As an insomniac I was spending longer and longer in bed in search of that elusive thing called sleep. At the weekends I could easily spend 10 or more hours in bed - trying to sleep, but actually only getting about 5 or 6 hours. Even on weekdays the amount of time I spent in bed v the amount of time sleeping was quite different.
This leads to a point where the brain stops associating bed with sleep, and instead associates it with lying awake.
In order to stop this and turn it back to the association of bed = sleep, you need to spend less time in bed! A favourite behavioural therapy solution to this is to work out how much time you are actually sleeping and then go to bed for that amount of time.
It works like this -
Keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks and record each night how much you are sleeping in total. If you sleep in several smaller blocks add these together to get your nightly total.
After two weeks work out your average sleep time. In the this example let's say 5 and half hours.
Work out what time you need to wake up and then count back your sleep time. Again let's say 7am is your wake up time, so in order to get 5 and half hours sleep you need to be in bed at 1.30am.
Go to bed at this new time until you are sleeping through from 1.30 - 7am. This needs to be done 7 nights a week with no lie-ins or naps! these times can adjusted to your body clock, if going to bed in the early hours of the morning feels alien to you then go to bed earlier but wake up (and get up) 5 and a half hours later!
If your average sleep time is less than 5 hours then set your sleep time for 5 hours - his is the absolute minimum amount of time to be aiming for.
After you have been sleeping through for a week, then go to bed 15 minutes earlier at 1.15am. Then when you are sleeping through again, slowly build up the amount of time you spend in bed in 15 minute increments.
If this process is done correctly then within a couple of months you wall be sleeping through, night after night and with in a few months you will have a normal sleeping pattern of 7 to 8 solid hours of sleep a night.
I call this techniques sleep condensing, as it retrains the brain from a fragmented sleeping pattern into a solid sleeping pattern. It needs to be done slowly and built up over time, so that you remain in a state of solid sleeping.
The efforts are worth the rewards and after a few months it is possible to then re-instate a couple of sneaky lie-ins and the occasional afternoon nap. It does need to be closely monitored and if night time waking starts becoming a regular feature of your sleep again, then you may need to cut back a little of your time in bed to re-establish a solid night of sleep again - just as someone who watches their weight may cut back on their calories after an over indulgent holiday!
Sleep condensing may also have to be combined with other sleep essentials (such as reducing caffeine, switching off electronic equipment an hour before bed
etc) in order to work well.
If you want to try this, then good luck and let me know how you go!
Sweet dreams.
If you would like more help with achieving overcoming insomnia and other sleep problems then please contact me at charlotte@charlottewelply.com and we can set up a free introductory coaching session.
