Drug Free Help for Insomnia
Stop Insomnia and Sleeping Pill Use with Cognitive Behavior Therapy
Mar 20, 2007
Most people have experienced occasional insomnia at some time in their life. Times of stress and family crisis can bring it on, only to have it disappear as quickly as it came the moment the crisis is over. For millions, chronic insomnia can go on for years, becoming a debilitating lifelong problem. In desperation, many turn to sleeping pills, giving up hope of ever sleeping normally.
Human beings need sleep. Sleeping restores the body and the mind. It has long been known that people consistently deprived of sleep are at risk for stress related illness, depression, memory problems and motor vehicle accidents.
Natural sleep, consisting of adequate dreaming time (REM sleep) is considered the best restorative sleep. Sleeping pills are meant to be used temporarily. People who take them long term are prone to numerous side effects such as the sleeping pill “hangover” and rebound insomnia that is often difficult to stop once it is established. Long term use can also prevent the discovery of a more serious illness that may be the true cause of the sleeplessness.
Safe, Effective and Natural Treatment:
Cognitive Behavior Therapy has been around for a long time. Used to treat everything from depression to panic attacks, this short term treatment has now been proven to help sleep disorders as well.
CBT basically works on the idea that your thought processes effect how you feel and therefore your behavior as well. A trained sleep therapist can help the patient become conscious of, and then to change “self talk” and thought processes. Once the thoughts have been dealt with, the focus becomes changing the behaviors and learning “sleep hygiene”.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy will teach you to:
(Mayo Clinic Dec. 2006)
- Get up at approximately the same time every day, even on holidays and weekends.
- Get as much natural light as possible during the day, and limit light when you want to sleep.
- Go to bed only when you think you can fall asleep. If you haven't dozed off within 20 to 30 minutes, get out of bed and do something else until you feel drowsy. Limiting the amount of time you spend in bed when you're not actually sleeping increases your desire to sleep.
- Avoid napping during the day.
- Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, especially late in the day.
- Get regular exercise. Whether exercise close to bedtime disturbs sleep remains unclear and may vary from person to person.
- Start winding down an hour or two before bedtime. Turn down the lights. Stop watching television and using the computer. Take a warm bath.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy is a safe and drug free treatment for chronic insomnia. To find a Behavioral Therapist trained in sleep therapy, check the list of sleep centers available on the National Sleep Foundation Website. CBT books and tapes are also available at Amazon.com.
