April 10, 2001--
If you suffer from insomnia, there may be a way to go to sleep and stay asleep without taking any medications.
Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports a technique which modifies behavior patterns seems to work better than anything else.
You have trouble falling alseep. And if you do fall asleep, you wake up in the middle of the morning, turning and tossing until it's time to get up.
We all suffer from this occasionally. But for someone with insomnia, it goes on night after night.
Dennis Meredith wakes up in the middle of the night or early morning and can't fall back to sleep. That's why he volunteered for a new study at the Durham V.A. and Duke University Medical Centers.
First, he began keeping a sleep diary to find out exactly how little he was actually sleeping at night.
Dennis Meredith / Former Insomniac: "WHAT REALLY SURPRISED ME IS HOW MUCH TIME I WAS SPENDING AWAKE AT NIGHT. I THOUGHT I WOULD BE UP TEN, TWENTY MINUTES AT A TIME BUT WHEN I REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT I WAS UP AN HOUR TO TWO HOURS AT A STRETCH."
Researchers then used the diary to help Dennis develop a new behavior pattern. For example, watching a bad movie before retiring or getting up in the middle of the night to do chores or work doesn't help. And trying to make up for the lost sleep the next day only makes matters worse.
DR. JACK EDINGER, V.A. MEDICAL CENTER, DURHAM, NC: "FOR EXAMPLE, IF SOMEONE HAS DIFFICULTY SLEEPING AT NIGHT THEY MAY TAKE A DAYTIME NAP TO COMPENSATE. THE DIFFICULTY WITH THAT IS THAT THE NAPPING THEN INTERFERES WITH THE SUBSEQUENT NIGHT'S SLEEP."
At the University of Utah Sleep Center, Dr. Christopher Jones agrees with the study published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.
He says insomniacs also experience improvements when they learn how to relax and stop worrying about falling asleep - an actual fear of going to bed.
CHRISTOPHER JONES, M.D., UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SLEEP CENTER: "SOMETIMES WE CALL IT DREAD THE BED-- WHEN THEY KNOW THEY WILL HAVE A VERY FRUSTRATING NIGHT OF NOT SLEEPING. SOMETIMES WE CALL IT SLEEP PERFORMANCE ANXIETY. THEY ARE VERY ANXIOUS ABOUT WHETHER THEY WILL SUCCEED AT THE PERFORMANCE OR TASK OF FALLING ASLEEP."
Dennis Meredith has modified his behavior and now sleeps seven to eight hours per night instead of five or less.
DENNIS MEREDITH: "YOU HAVE A SENSE OF CONFIDENCE THAT YOU CAN GET BACK TO SLEEP IN A REASONABLE WAY. YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE TO GET UP AND WANDER AROUND AND YOU DON'T FEEL THIS SENSE OF HELPLESSNESS."
For some, changing behavior can be as simple as following the same routine each night.
You put on your pajamas, brush you teeth, read a few chapters in a serene book.
The body clock now envisions these as click points. Pajamas, teeth, a book - now it's time to turn out the light and go to sleep.
Sleep Tips
- Consume less caffeine (or none at all)
- Avoid alcohol
- Drink fewer fluids before going to sleep
- Establish a regular bedtime and waking schedule
- Avoid nicotine
- Avoid heavy meals close to bedtime
- Exercise regularly, but do so at least three hours
before bedtime
- Try a relaxing routine, like a hot bath, before going
to bed
- More from National Sleep Foundation
