If you have chronic insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the best way to improve your sleep for the long-term because CBT-I gives you all the skills and techniques that will address the root causes of insomnia.
Related video: The three causes of chronic insomnia (and how to fix them so you can improve your sleep): [ Ссылка ]
Over the short-term, CBT-I techniques are quite regimented — and this is actually an advantage, since having a very clear roadmap to follow can help reduce the worry, anxiety, and helplessness associated with insomnia (see this video: [ Ссылка ])
As you progress through a course of CBT-I, certain techniques (especially sleep restriction and the sleep window) are adjusted so that when your sleep improves you will be able to allot more time for sleep. In addition, you will need to implement stimulus control (a core CBT-I technique) less often as your sleep improves.
Related videos:
How can sleep restriction improve sleep? [ Ссылка ]
How to create a sleep window for insomnia: [ Ссылка ]
How stimulus control improves sleep if you live with chronic insomnia: [ Ссылка ]
Over the longer-term, as you begin to sleep better and regain confidence in your ability to sleep, you can experiment with some of the techniques to make them more flexible. For example, if you want to go to bed earlier or take morning lie-ins on weekends, you can monitor your sleep for a couple of weeks before and after making the change, then evaluate the impact this had on your sleep.
If there was no impact, you know that you can continue on. If there was a negative impact, you know that you can revert back to your previous routine and try again in the future.
The most amazing thing about CBT-I is that it is skills-based. Once you are familiar with the skills and techniques, they are with you forever. So, if you end up abandoning CBT-I for 20 years because your sleep improved so much but you hit a rough patch of sleep in the future, you can simply reintroduce CBT-I techniques to get your sleep back on track.
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My name is Martin Reed and I am the founder of Insomnia Coach®. I offer sleep coaching services that give people with insomnia all the skills and support they need to enjoy better sleep for the rest of their lives. I also offer a free two-week sleep training course for people with insomnia at [ Ссылка ]
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All content found on the Insomnia Coach YouTube channel is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice or medical treatment 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 other licensed healthcare provider. All content is provided as is, and without warranties.
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