Sleep’s Sweet Synchronicity

To a sleep-deprived insomniac, it sure sounds counterintuitive:  do not allow yourself to sleep in one day, or you pay the price the following night.

If you’ve tossed and turned for hour after frustrating hour, angry at yourself for being unable to sleep, when you do finally get some blessed relief in the wee hours of the morning it’s understandable that yes, you just want to hold on to it for as long as you can.

But that likely is not helping. To the contrary, sleeping in is probably worsening and perpetuating insomnia.

Why is this?  Why does the seemingly benign act of allowing yourself to sleep in one day enormously increase the risk that you’ll have yet another rough night ahead?

It all has to do with sleep’s sweet synchronicity.

Many insomniacs are not aware of the two most important mind-body systems that control sleep:  circadian rhythm, which produces an alerting signal, and homeostatic sleep drive.  These two physiologic processes work in tandem.  When synchronized and working well together, sleep becomes much easier naturally, and at times, practically irresistible.

To help better understand how sleeping in disrupts the synchronicity between these two internal processes, take a look at a simple graphic produced by the Harvard School of Medicine:  http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/interactive/sleep-forces

Fortunately, there is a very simple way to resynchronize your biological clock and circadian alerting signal:  simply get up at the same time every day.  Also have a consistent bedtime, and allow yourself only the minimum time needed for sleep.  For most people, this is somewhere between 7 and 9 hours per night.

To be sure, there are many other factors that often contribute to primary insomnia, which typically has no diagnosable medical issue associated with it.  Key among these nonmedical root causes are the negative and often distorted thoughts and beliefs many insomniacs hold about the idea of sleep.

The best, most comprehensive solution to insomnia that addresses all these issues is contained in CBT — cognitive behavioral therapy — specifically designed for insomnia.  A good CBT-based sleep training program is a drug-free solution that enables you to permanently address the true root causes for most primary insomnia.

Not allowing yourself to sleep in is tough for an insomniac, no question.  But when you begin to address the true root causes, the payoff is huge.  This is one step along the way to becoming a normal sleeper again, and reaping all the healthy rewards that go along with better sleep.

Explore posts in the same categories: Health, Insomnia, sleep

Tags: better sleep, cognitive behavioral therapy, health, insomnia, psychophysiologic insomnia, sleep help

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.