Insomnia and other sleep disorders can have a disastrous effect on the quality of your life. However, help is at hand - three out of four clients with primary insomnia benefit from CBT.
Lost Body sleep is a serious matter...
- Do you have difficulty in getting to sleep?
- Do you wake in the early hours of the morning?
- Have you tried medication but feel that you don't benefit from the sleep it gives you?
At least one person in ten suffers with insomnia or some other sleep disorder, and often it starts because of a medical condition or stress.
Frequently, sleep disorders are not taken as seriously as other illnesses.
However, if you have difficulty sleeping, you know how debilitating it is, and you want it taken seriously!
Sleep
About one third of the time of your life is spent on sleep, and yet very little is known about it!
As far as we know, all animals sleep, and many appear to dream. In general, the larger the animal is, the less sleep it needs.
An interesting thing about dolphins is that they sleep half a brain at a time; when the left hand side of their brain is asleep, the right hand side might be awake, and vice versa!
There are two sleep states, rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM).
In the diagram of a healthy night's sleep to the right, NREM sleep is shown as sleep stages 1 through 4.
NREM (Body Maintenance) Sleep
Deep NREM sleep (stages 3 & 4) is essential every night if you are to function effectively the following day.
Lost Body sleep is a serious matter, and you cannot recover it by taking a short nap.
The good news is that you get all the deep NREM sleep you need within four hours of falling asleep.
NREM sleep also defends and repairs our bodies against the ravages of oxidation.
REM (Dream) Sleep
In the short term, lost REM sleep does not have the debilitating effect of lost deep NREM sleep, but recent research shows that consistent lack of REM sleep has long-term effects on mental health.
REM is the part of sleep where you dream.
Many people cannot remember their dreams, and the explanation can be seen in the diagram; when you wake up naturally, most people jump straight from NREM sleep to the awake state, avoiding the dream stage.
Of course, you can be woken up by a disturbing nightmare, and in that case you will remember it.
Dangers of Losing Sleep
If you have not had your allotment of deep NREM sleep the night before, you are twice as likely to have an accident whilst driving or operating a machine tool.
Long-term insomnia increases the risk of developing depression, an anxiety disorder, or alcohol problems.
Sleeping Remedies
Sleeping tablets are good at getting you to sleep. However, the side-effect of most sleeping tablets is that they suppress deep NREM sleep!
In other words, you sleep but you don't benefit from it.
Alcohol has a short-term beneficial effect on sleep.
However, if you have a tot of alcohol to help you sleep on a regular basis, the long-term effect is negative.
People with an alcohol or drug habit sleep poorly.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Three out of four clients with primary insomnia benefit from CBT.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy takes even more guts and determination than conventional psychotherapy. The therapy consists of a graded series of exercises.
There's no drugs and therefore no side-effects or dependency issues.
You work at your own pace, and the exercises can be done whenever and wherever you choose.
The improvement is as far-reaching and permanent as you want it to be - you are in control!
Get the Life You Want! now has a therapist trained in the use of CBT, and you can contact him on the usual number:
