I just watched an interesting video from ABC News on Rewiring Your Brain, where it talks about the terrible insomnia epidemic suffered by women in America (men too, I would have to assume). It’s only a couple of minutes long, so I would suggest you have a look.
ABC News Segment on Insomnia
The important thing to remember here is that, just as they confirm in the video, cognitive re-training of your brain works better than sleeping pills do. In short, they recommend the things I’ve been harping on here for a while:
- Throw out the sleeping pills. They may help in the short term, and there will be a setback once you stop using them, but in the long run the cognitive (versus pharmaceutical) therapies have been proven to work better. With pills, you are just postponing the inevitable.
- Keep a notepad by your bed. I’ve recommended this as a sleep journal (which is still a good idea), but they recommend that you handle anxiety this way as well. Write down your thoughts and worries for the next day – so they are off your mind tonight. Interestingly, one of the people I surveyed last week on the ski trip mentioned that this is the only way he can fall asleep – writing down all the thoughts going through his head.
- Sleep restriction is the next big one. This means getting up every morning at a regular, early, fixed time every day, including weekends. Whether you’ve slept or not, get up at the same time every day. There’s another more advanced technique of sleep restriction that I’ve talked about that involves a bit more discomfort, but it’s been proven to work.
- Use the bedroom for sleep only (and sex, though they didn’t mention that – it’s prime-time TV). No TV, reading, doing work or anything else in the bed.
At the end of the short segment, they talk about a pioneering study in Australia that works with “ultra-severe-sleep-restriction”. This is where, for 24 hours, they only let the subjects sleep for five minutes at a time. They’re in a windowless room as well, so there are no day/night cues. The idea is to retrain your brain that it craves sleep, and can’t function without it. They’ve so far had excellent results – over 50% have improved their sleep.
I’ve read reports of people hacking polysomnic sleep (sleeping several times a day for short periods each time), where they discover that after the initial discomfort of the new timetable, they are able to fall asleep instantly and deeply. They have, in essence, trained their brains to sleep on command.
The net-net on all this is back to the basics. Basic sleep hygiene. Basic sleep restriction. Basic schedule. That’s normally all there is to it.
Hi Doug,
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I’ll be back to read more next time