We hear this at least once a week from clients, psychologists, and doctors, that sleep disturbances are rife in Central Sydney!
You’ve seen your doctor and they ruled out physical issues like sleep apnoea, but you’re still suffering from a chronic lack of sleep? Do you:
• Have difficulties falling or staying asleep?
• Feel irritable, depressed, or anxious?
• Have poor concentration and attention?
• Worry and ruminate about sleep?
• Struggle to manage stress?
• Drink large quantities of alcoholic or caffeinated drinks?
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If you said ‘yes’ to some or all of these, you may be suffering from insomnia!
Insomnia is a difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or dissatisfaction with sleep quality, as well as one or more of the following symptoms: fatigue, low energy, difficulty concentrating, irritability, depressed mood, and decreased work or academic performance.
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Unhelpful habits:
Often people turn to medications, substances, coffee, or napping during the day to try and alleviate their fatigue form lack of sleep. Whilst these may bring relief in the short-term, they maintain the problem in the long-term as they don’t help make lasting change to your chronic sleep patterns.
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Self-management tools:
Having good sleep hygiene can alleviate many of the common symptoms of insomnia. Try implementing the following:
– Wake up at the same time every day (no matter what time you went to sleep). Over time this will help your body feel more tired in the evenings and regulate your sleeping patterns.
– Avoid napping during the day, as this will hinder your ability to fall asleep the next evening.
– Avoid all caffeinated drinks and foods in the late afternoon and evening (e.g., coffee, tea, energy drinks, dark chocolate).
– Avoid looking at electronic screens 1 hour before bed-time (the blue light emitted from phones and TVs prevents the production of melatonin which is essential for falling asleep)
– One of the most important changes you can make is to create a relaxing bed time routine 30-60 mins before you want to go to sleep. Keep this routine consistent and relaxing (e.g., drink a herbal tea, read a book, and then listening to a relaxation tape). Over time your body will start to pair those activities with going to sleep and you will end up getting to sleep faster.
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Tried sleep hygiene techniques and feel like nothing works?
If you’ve had chronic insomnia and feel like nothing works, then you may need more intensive intervention. One of the most effective treatments for insomnia is CBTi (that is, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia). CBTi targets mental factors associated with poor sleep (e.g., rumination), conditioned responses (e.g., feeling awake when in bed), and unhelpful habits (e.g., poor sleep hygiene), all of which contribute to insomnia.
Depending on the complexity of your difficulties, CBTi can be delivered over 6-12 weekly sessions designed to teach clients specific and practical skills.
CBTi has been assessed in over 100 Random Control Trials, with approximately 70% of people obtaining lasting long-term improvement in their sleep quality. So, what have you got to lose?
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If you need effective and specialised help to get your sleep back on track, or you’ve experienced chronic lack of sleep for a long-time, contact our Sydney based psychology clinic Foresight Psychology Ultimo: 02 8380 8855 / info@foresightpsychology.com to find out how we can help you recover your healthy sleeping patterns.
