Stress Less for Sleep

Solutions to stressors that are keeping you awake.

“I’ll never make it through the day tomorrow if I don’t get to sleep.”
      “I’ve got only three hours until I have to get up.”
      “I’m sure I’ll get sick if I don’t get to sleep.”

Many people with primary insomnia — the kind not caused by an underlying medical problem — suffer from psychophysiologic insomnia, a conditioned sleep disorder in which the fretting focuses on sleep. Why can’t I fall asleep? Will I wake up in the middle of the night? How will I get through the day tomorrow? As the worry builds, it becomes increasingly difficult to doze off, which only perpetuates the insomnia.

QUIZ: Are You Feeling Stressed?

Excessive worry about sleep is the main symptom of psychophysiological insomnia. This type of insomnia is more common in women and symptoms need to last at least a month in duration. People with psychophysiologic insomnia often have trouble relaxing in bed, and drift off more readily when they’re away from home or doing something monotonous.

Clearing your mind of intrusive thoughts isn’t easy, especially if you have bad habits supporting them, but the right mind-set can make a difference. Find a way to create a sleep-inducing environment, and work hard at feeling relaxed before bedtime. Sometimes that process begins by adjusting your attitude.

Think Positively
Okay, it’s true: Sleep is important for your health and well-being. It strengthens your immune system, puts you in a good mood and helps you do all that you do in a day. Studies show that without enough zzzzs, you may be at risk for health problems such as weight gain, high blood pressure and heart disease.

But in reality, short-term bouts of occasional insomnia aren’t likely to cause long-term health problems, says Nancy Foldvary, DO, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Cleveland Clinic and author of The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Sleep Disorders. “Infrequent bouts are probably not life-threatening, but they can affect daytime functioning” she says.

Overthinking the importance of sleep only perpetuates the anxiety that keeps you awake. “Attributing everything bad that happens to poor sleep increases the importance of sleep and similarly the anxiety and stress of sleeping poorly,” says Donna Arand, PhD, clinical director of the Kettering Sleep Disorders Center, in Kettering, Ohio. “This can be a vicious circle.”

If you have insomnia, it’s important to accept that you can get through a few days without enough sleep and do just fine — a message your brain must absorb. “You have to believe that the occasional insomnia is normal,” says Mark Mahowald, MD, a professor of neurology and director of the Minnesota Regional Sleep Disorders Center in Hennepin County Medical Center, in Minneapolis. “You have to acknowledge that it’s part of the human condition. Nothing bad is going to happen to you if you had a bad night’s sleep.”