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Anxiety and Sleep Initiation

June 3rd, 2021

If you are currently experiencing a bout of insomnia, it’s almost inevitable to feel some level of anxiety as evening approaches. Typical or not, anxiety is one of the things that makes it difficult to fall asleep! That said, it’s critical to learn some anxiety management tools so it doesn’t contribute to an already difficult situation.

One thing to try is to challenge catastrophic thoughts. Those are the kind of black and white thoughts that always predict the worst possible outcome. For example, If I fail my final exams, I’ll never get into college and then I’ll be a failure! Or as it may relate to insomnia, If I don’t get some sleep tonight, I’ll go crazy. If you’ve already had many sleepless nights and have not “gone crazy”, it’s very unlikely that you will suddenly become clinically insane. It’s important to consider the exact opposite of such a catastrophic thought and adopt it if you can. For example, If I don’t get some sleep tonight, it might make tomorrow difficult but it’s nothing I haven’t handled in the past and I’ll be able to handle it tomorrow. See the difference? One statement creates anxiety and one relieves it. Bottom line: lighten up! Try to offer yourself some reassuring thoughts and include some pleasant ones as well, such as an upcoming vacation or an exciting new purchase that you may be considering. Nothing obliterates anxiety like happiness!

There are a lot of anxiety management tools out there that are easy to find on the world wide web! I’ll try to include more here in the weeks to come. Check back from time to time and see what new exercises you can try to get your anxiety under control so you can fall asleep easier and sleep better! Good luck!

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How Much Sleep do I Really Need?

The simple answer to the question “How much sleep does a person need actually need?” is we don’t know. The consensus among Behavioral Sleep Medicine practitioners and Sleep Medicine physicians is that any amount of sleep between six and 10 hours per night is within the “normal” range for most people. Of course there are outliers that can get by with four or five hours of sleep per night. And there are those who require 11 hours of sleep per night to feel rested, but those cases are rare.

A good way to gage the amount of sleep one needs is to look at typical sleep patterns of various age groups. For example, newborn babies can sleep up to 20 hours a day and that is normal. Teenagers need about 10 hours of sleep but they rarely get it all at one time. A lot of teenagers come home from school and crash for three hours before even beginning their homework. But they go to bed long after midnight and then have to be up at 6 AM for school the next day. Senior citizens need about 7 hours of sleep per night but, like teenagers, they aren’t typically able to claim all those hours at one time. For various reasons, they wake up throughout the night and often have to supplement their total sleep time with a nap in order to get adequate rest.

Perhaps the best way to know how much sleep you need is to compare how much sleep you got the night before you felt great throughout and entire day with how much sleep you got the night before you were exhausted throughout the day. You’ll have to keep all things equal on both days in order to get an accurate idea of what is best for you. For example, you’ll have to have the same caffeine intake, keep the same nutritional habits. The bottom line is that you are in the best position to determine what amount of sleep is best for you. When in doubt, it may be wise to consult a Behavioral Sleep Therapist who can help you discern between how many hours of sleep you want, how many hours of sleep you need, and how many hours you’ll realistically be able to achieve most nights.

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Good Sleepers Are List Makers

Did You Know that Good Sleepers…Are List Makers

Suggestion: Try keeping a master “to-do” list. You can divide your list into sections to keep it better organized (e.g., work, household, social, appointments, etc). People who keep lists tend to have a greater sense of control over their lives and experience less anxiety over meeting their responsibilities. Good sleepers don’t have a bunch of stuff rattling around in their heads while they are trying to relax and go to sleep. Why should you?

Sleep well!

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Good Sleepers Have Good Awareness of their Nutrition

Did You Know that Good Sleepers…Have Good Awareness of their Nutrition

Suggestion: Try making a mental note of what you ate the day before having a difficult time sleeping. Likewise, try to remember what you ate the day before getting a good night’s sleep. You may be able to see how what you are eating is affecting the amount and the quality of sleep you are getting.

Sleep well!

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Specializing In The Treatment of…

Insomnia, sleep disorders, parasomnias, sleep apnea, CBT-I, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, sleep coaching, behavioral sleep medicine, and more!

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