The sleep deprivation that builds up over the course of this pattern helps even the most hard-core insomniac fall asleep a few times. If successful, the participant is woken up after just three minutes of sleep, asked if he or she had been asleep, and told that he or she had indeed fallen asleep. During each one, the person tries to fall asleep. The next 25 hours are divided into 50 thirty-minute sessions. The next day, he or she reports to a sleep lab around bed time. Intensive sleep retraining works like this: The night before undergoing the program, a person with chronic insomnia sleeps (or stays in bed) no more than five hours. A new approach that uses a 25-hour program called intensive sleep retraining may be enough to break the cycle in a day. One widely used behavioral approach, called stimulus control therapy, aims to break harmful sleep habits and thoughts over the course of several weeks. Some of the sleepless turn to medications. Loosening the grip of chronic insomnia can take time and effort. Soon just the sight of your bed or the tick of the clock toward 10:00 pm can trigger anxiety and render you wide awake. But then the habits that come along with not sleeping-looking at the clock, lying in bed wide awake, worrying about not getting to sleep-can stick. Stress or trouble at home or work interferes with sleep for a few nights. For others, insomnia is a chronic problem that affects mood, daytime alertness and performance, and emotional and physical health.Ĭhronic insomnia often starts out innocently enough. For some, it's just a now-and-then hitch. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.Įach night, as millions of Americans slumber peacefully, millions more can't fall asleep or stay asleep. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed.
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