In the fast-paced world we live in, achieving a good night's sleep can be challenging. Many individuals struggle with sleep, impacting their overall well-being and daily functioning.
Understanding Sleep and CBT:
Before delving into how psychological strategies may be able to improve your sleep, it's essential to understand the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an approach that focuses on identifying and challenging unhelpful thought patterns and behaviours, ultimately promoting positive emotional and behavioural outcomes. When it comes to sleep by addressing these cognitive and behavioural factors, this can help to facilitate healthier sleep habits and cultivate a more positive sleep environment.
Some key principles of CBT for sleep include:
Stimulus Control: Establishing a strong connection between the bed and sleep is very important. This involves creating a sleep-conducive environment and associating the bed primarily with sleep rather than other activities like watching TV or working. A common saying is, “your bed is for sleep and sex – that’s it!” When you spend time in bed doing tasks, this can weaken your brain’s association between bed and sleep. By gradually adjusting your routine to spend time winding down before getting into bed, your brain will likely strengthen the association between bed and sleep, promoting more efficient sleep onset (i.e., become quicker to fall asleep).
Cognitive Restructuring: Identifying and challenging negative thoughts about sleep is central to CBT. By identifying and challenging these thoughts, individuals can reduce anxiety and improve their overall sleep quality. Common unhelpful thinking patterns that are common in anxiety are also common when it comes to sleep. For example:
1. Catastrophizing: This involves imagining the worst-case scenarios related to sleep. For example, thinking that one bad night's sleep will lead to a series of negative consequences, such as decreased performance at work or impaired overall health.
2. Overgeneralization: Drawing broad conclusions based on limited or isolated sleep experiences. If someone has difficulty sleeping one night, they might generalize it to believe they'll never sleep well again.
3. All-or-Nothing Thinking: Also known as black-and-white thinking, this involves viewing sleep as either perfect or a complete failure. If someone doesn't achieve an ideal eight hours, they might see the night as a total loss.
4. Discounting the Positive: Ignoring or downplaying positive aspects of one's sleep. For instance, dismissing a night of good sleep as a fluke and expecting the next night to be problematic.
Whilst there are many other examples of unhelpful thinking patterns around sleep, these are just a few that can highlight thinking can impact sleep. For example, if you had 5 hours of
sleep, you may think, “I’ve had a terrible night sleep, and today is going to be awful.” Whilst we know 8hrs of sleep is ideal let’s not ‘discount the positives’ – there were at least 5hrs of sleep in there! And yes, are you going to be feeling your absolute best today – maybe not, but let’s not catastrophise how the day will play out. A more balanced thought could be,
"I’ve had a terrible night sleep, and today is going to be awful and I didn’t get a lot of sleep, so I’ll take it easy today."
We aren’t saying that it is all sunshine and rainbows, you didn’t have the best night of sleep, however – let’s wait until we face the day before we draw conclusions about it. Who knows, someone in the office might bring in cake? Or that meeting you were worrying about last night could go really well, or maybe even get rescheduled?
Sleep Hygiene: CBT emphasizes the importance of adopting good sleep hygiene practices, such as:
-maintaining a consistent sleep schedule
-creating a comfortable sleep environment
-avoiding stimulants before bedtime such as caffeine and nicotine.
Applying CBT Principles to Enhance Sleep:
1. Identify Negative Thoughts: Start by recognizing and challenging negative thoughts about sleep. Common thoughts include worries about not being able to fall asleep or fear of the consequences of poor sleep.
2. Establish a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: Create a calming pre-sleep routine to signal to your body that it's time to wind down. This can include activities like reading a book, practicing mindfulness, or taking a warm bath.
3. Limit Screen Time: Reduce exposure to screens before bedtime, as some evidence suggests that blue light emitted can interfere with melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep. Furthermore, your phone/computer is a very exciting item for your brain. Whilst it may not seem like it, your brain receives a big rush of dopamine (reward chemical in your brain) when you are on your phone, which can make it more difficult to fall asleep.
4. Manage Stress and Anxiety: Incorporate stress-reduction techniques, such as deep breathing exercises or progressive muscle relaxation, into your daily routine to alleviate anxiety that may be contributing to sleep difficulties. It is important to discuss your stress and anxiety with your GP and/or a mental health professional.
A good night's sleep is within reach. It is important to note that a lot of these strategies may take several weeks to impact your sleep. Again, it is important to remain engaging in these activities for a prolonged period of time, in order to establish a consistent routine.
This post is generalised information and is not medical advice. If you're struggling with sleep-related issues, consider reaching out to your GP or your psychologist for personalized support and guidance.
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