![]() Both of these behaviours actually worsen insomnia. For example, if you worry a lot about sleep, you might start to try to force sleep or start to sleep in for longer periods in the morning to ‘catch up on sleep’. These behaviours also become negative and worsen our insomnia. This means that when we have negative (and often incorrect) views about sleep, we typically begin to behave in accordance with these thoughts. ![]() The National Sleep Foundation explains: “In people with insomnia, inaccurate or dysfunctional thoughts about sleep may lead to behaviours that make sleep more difficult, which then reinforce the dysfunctional thoughts”. ![]() All of these thoughts are natural and valid, but unfortunately, they feed into a negative cycle of anxiety about sleep loss worsening your insomnia.Īnxiety isn’t the only problem which stems from negative thoughts about sleep. These might be thoughts like: “I should be able to sleep like everyone else,” “I’m never going to be able to sleep normally,” or “my performance at work is going to be affected and I’ll get into trouble”. You may begin having very negative thoughts about your sleep. It’s common to start feeling anxious close to bedtime, worrying about whether you’re going to be able to get to sleep. If your insomnia is ongoing, this anxiety about sleep and sleep loss might grow. In turn, the stress response strengthens the wakefulness system”. Unfortunately, this frustration and worry makes you ‘wound up’, which makes it even harder to get to sleep! This document from the University of Massachusetts Medical School explains: “Negative, stressful thoughts about sleep worsen insomnia by triggering emotions such as anxiety or frustration that mobilize the stress response. These are all common, very understandable feelings. You might start getting very worried about how your lack of sleep is going to affect you the next day. You may start looking at the clock and thinking about how many hours of sleep you are going to get. When you’re lying awake in bed at night, you might start feeling increasingly frustrated.
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