OTHER ALTERNATIVES

Other techniques that can help you improve your sleep habits are stimulus control, paradoxical intention and sleep restriction. All three techniques have to do with changing your habits and reframing your current way of thinking about sleep. As you sleep better, you will create positive associations with sleep based on your new practices.

 •            Stimulus control

 

 Stimulus control therapy derives from the idea that a person with chronic insomnia associates bedtime and the bedroom with not being able to sleep. The technique limits the amount of time spent in the bedroom for non - sleep activities to retrain the brain to associate bedtime and the bed / bedroom with successful sleep attempts rather than sleeplessness. The general guidelines of stimulus control are:

 

 o            Go to bed only when you are sleepy.

 

 o            Don’t read, watch television, eat or do other non - sleep things in bed.

 

 o            If you are not asleep within 15 minutes, leave the bedroom and don ' t return until you are sleepy.

 

 o            If you are awake at night for more than 15 minutes, get out of bed.

 

 o            Have a consistent wake time every day, regardless of how much sleep you got.

 

 o            Avoid naps.

 

 •            Paradoxical intention

 

 Paradoxical intention is a psychological approach that is based on doing the opposite of what you want or fear and taking it to extreme. Some people who experience insomnia may continue to experience insomnia because they fear another sleepless night or they fear the thoughts and worries that accompany going to bed, and their fear keeps them awake.

 

 Paradoxical intention focuses on confronting, and hopefully, eliminating the fear so that it stops getting in the way of sleep. This approach is used for other fears as well. Rather than trying, unsuccessfully, to go to sleep night after night, try to stay awake and do something instead. Turning your attention to something else removes the fear of not being able to sleep and may allow you to relax and eventually go to bed.

 •            Sleep restriction

 

 Sleep restriction is based on the idea that people require different amounts of sleep, and that often, a person with insomnia stays in bed thinking that they will get more sleep, when staying in bed really just increases frustration and sleep difficulty. Sleep restriction therapy reduces the amount of non - sleeping time a person with insomnia spends in bed.

 

 To practice sleep restriction, you determine your average total sleep time by keeping a log of your sleep habits for two weeks. If you usually sleep 6 hours per night, but spend 8 hours a night in bed ( tossing and turning, watching TV, reading, staring at the ceiling for the other 2 hours ), sleep restriction therapy will only allow to spend 6 or 6 1 / 2 hours in bed at first.

 

 In the beginning, you might not sleep all of the time, but gradually, the time spent sleeping should increase. If you continue to have trouble sleeping, the time allowed in bed is further restricted to encourage sleep when you are in bed. The overall time spent in bed is adjusted as it becomes clear how much sleep you need.

 And then, there’s light therapy. Let’s re - visit the circadian rhythm and how light affects that rhythm.