![]() ![]() ![]() This may be caused by difficulties in either falling or staying asleep. It means being concerned with how much you sleep or how well you sleep. ![]() “Many are able to avoid future bouts of insomnia and others can resolve a reoccurrence by working through the strategies they learned.Insomnia is a symptom, not a disease. “Ultimately, we find patients sleep better and faster, without medication, when they complete sleep training,” Dr. Avoid screen time immediately before going to bed.Avoid substances like nicotine, caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime.Avoid overly rich or spicy foods at night-this includes citrus fruits and sodas, which can cause indigestion.General guidelines for good sleep hygiene include: By observing one’s own heartbeat or breathing, and concentrating on slowing it down, patients can regain a sense of control and quiet racing thoughts.Īdopt new habits: Sleep troubles may begin much earlier in the day with behaviors related to diet, exercise and screen time, which are generally categorized under sleep hygiene. Shift focus: Another part of that discipline is redirecting the mind’s energy to a specific physical process. The mind races with questions, like “What if I can’t sleep tonight … and tomorrow night?” Sleep training offers an objective process to examine those thoughts and decide whether they are realistic and probable. Reframe the issue: Aside from personal and professional anxieties, the fear of not sleeping is enough to keep some people awake. That way all responsibilities are accounted for and committed to paper, so patients can rest easy. Instead of lying in bed, obsessively recounting each looming task, sleep therapists recommend writing a to-do list for the following day. The patient then pushes back bedtime by their average “wait time,” eventually falling asleep sooner and resuming their normal sleep schedule.ĭerail anxiety: Often people are kept awake by the litany of responsibilities they are afraid to forget, Dr. Set a benchmark: Patients can track how long they spend in bed both awake and asleep for a week to understand the average time they spend waiting to fall asleep. Sleep specialists want to get to the root of the problem, not just treat the symptoms. During those sessions, patients learn simple techniques to disrupt the cycle of insomnia. The process typically involves weekly appointments, for six to eight weeks. Sleep training through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-I) is effective because it retrains the brain, addressing triggers for insomnia and any underlying anxiety about sleep, according to Dr. Sleep therapy can greatly improve quality of life for patients because it provides strategies that can be used whenever sleep issues occur. “As an osteopathic physician, I want to help my patients overcome their current sleep challenges and prevent future episodes. “Sleep specialists want to get to the root of the problem, not just treat the symptoms,” said Dr. While sleep aids are a helpful short-term solution for many patients, most people with recurring insomnia benefit from a referral to a sleep specialist who can offer long-term solutions. Insomnia complaints can include difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, waking up too early, and/or having sleep that is not refreshing, according to the National Sleep Foundation. While insomnia is a common, often chronic health condition, sleep specialist Hiral Patel, DO, says patients don’t often get the treatment they need because most insomnia patients receive medication without a referral to a sleep specialist. Have you spent countless nights tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep? Or maybe you wake up in the morning but don’t feel rested? If so, you’re not alone, but effective treatment that moves beyond medication is widely available.įor the estimated 60 million Americans struggling with insomnia, sleep training is an underutilized treatment that can move patients away from medication for a lifetime of better sleep, according to osteopathic physicians. Battling insomnia? Sleep training can help ![]()
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