It’s super easy to give advice like “eat healthy”, “keep a good work schedule” or “exercise”. We must admit that while those are good short-term solutions, they aren’t all that useful for those with legitimate sleep disorders. If you find yourself finding it hard to battle insomnia and none of the regular fixes are working, it might be time to pay your doc a visit. Here are some therapies they might prescribe to get you sleeping like a baby all over again.
1. Stimulus control therapy: This method helps remove factors that condition your mind to resist sleep. For example, you might be coached to set a consistent bedtime and wake time, avoid naps or may be leave the bedroom if you can't go to sleep within 20 minutes to only returnwhen you're sleepy.
2. Sleep restriction: Lying in bed when you're awake can become a habit that leads to poor sleep. This treatment reduces the time you spend in bed, causing partial sleep deprivation, which makes you more tired the next night. Once your sleep has improved, your time in bed is gradually increased.
3. Sleep hygiene: This method of therapy involves changing basic lifestyle habits that influence sleepsuch as smoking, drinking too much caffeine / alcoholor not getting regular exercise. It also includes tips that help you sleep better, such as ways to wind down an hour or two before bedtime.
4. Sleep environment improvement: This offers ways that you can create a comfortable sleep environment, such as keeping your bedroom quiet, dark and cool, not having a TV in the bedroom, and hiding the clock from view.
5. Relaxation training: This method helps you calm your mind and body. Approaches include meditation, imagery, muscle relaxation and others.
6. Remaining passively awake:Also called paradoxical intention, this involves avoiding any effort to fall asleep. Paradoxically, worrying that you can't sleep can keep you awake. Letting go of this worry can help you relax and make it easier to fall asleep.
7. Biofeedback: This method allows you to observe biological signs such as heart rate, muscle tension and shows you how to adjust them. Your sleep specialist may have you take a biofeedback device home to record your daily patterns. This information can help identify patterns that affect sleep.
Now that you’ve understood different therapies that might help you sleep better, head over to takebacksleep.org to find out if you’re sleep deprived by taking the Sleep Quiz and pledge to make a good sleeping habit, a well-being habit.
