Sleep & Insomnia
If you are experiencing sleep problems, you may…
Sleep problems can affect far more than how tired you feel the following day. When sleep becomes difficult, it can affect your mood, concentration, energy and ability to cope with everyday life.
- Struggle to fall asleepYou may lie awake for hours with a busy mind, worrying about the day ahead or replaying thoughts from the day before.
- Wake during the nightYou may fall asleep easily but wake repeatedly and struggle to settle back to sleep.
- Wake too earlyYou may find yourself awake in the early hours and unable to return to sleep.
- Have racing thoughtsYour body may be tired, but your mind seems unable to switch off.
- Feel exhausted during the dayPoor sleep can leave you feeling drained, irritable, unfocused or less able to cope with everyday demands.
- Worry about sleep itselfThe more you worry about whether you will sleep, the harder it can sometimes become to relax and let sleep happen naturally.
Understanding sleep and insomnia
Sleep is an essential part of your physical and emotional wellbeing. It gives your body an opportunity to rest and your mind time to recover from the demands of the day.
Most people experience occasional nights of poor sleep. Stress, illness, changes in routine, travel or difficult life events can all temporarily affect your sleep.
The problem can arise when poor sleep continues and you begin to worry about sleep itself.
When your mind won't switch off
One of the most frustrating experiences with insomnia is feeling exhausted but unable to sleep.
You may get into bed hoping that tonight will be different, only to notice your mind becoming more active.
You might think:
- “I have to get to sleep.”
- “I've only got five hours left.”
- “How am I going to function tomorrow?”
- “What if I can't sleep again tonight?”
The more you focus on needing to sleep, the more alert and frustrated you may become.
This can create a cycle:
Worry about sleep → increased alertness → difficulty relaxing → poor sleep → tiredness → worry about the next night → increased alertness.
The connection between stress, anxiety and sleep
Sleep and your emotional state are closely connected.
When you're experiencing stress or anxiety, your nervous system can remain more alert, making it harder to settle at bedtime.
At the same time, not getting enough restorative sleep can make it harder to manage stress and anxious thoughts during the day.
This can create a frustrating cycle:
Stress → poor sleep → tiredness → reduced ability to cope → increased stress.
For some people, breaking this cycle starts with learning how to create a calmer transition between being awake and going to sleep.
Your bedroom can become associated with being awake
When sleep problems continue for a long time, you may begin to associate bedtime with frustration and worry.
Instead of your bed feeling like a place for rest, it can become a place where you lie awake thinking about how little sleep you're getting.
You may start checking the clock, calculating how many hours remain before you need to get up or worrying about how tired you will feel tomorrow.
These habits are understandable, but they can keep your attention focused on sleep and make it harder to relax.
Learning to let go of the pressure to sleep
Sleep isn't something you can usually force.
The more pressure you put on yourself to fall asleep immediately, the more alert you may become.
Rather than trying to make yourself sleep, it can be more helpful to create the conditions in which sleep can happen naturally.
This can involve learning to relax your mind and body, reducing the mental chatter that keeps you awake and developing a calmer relationship with bedtime.
The aim isn't to worry about whether you're asleep every minute of the night. It's to gradually create a greater sense of calm and safety around sleep.
This is where hypnotherapy may have a role.
How hypnotherapy can help with sleep and insomnia
- Calm a busy mind. Learn techniques to quiet racing thoughts and create a more peaceful mental state at bedtime.
- Release physical tension. Use deep relaxation to help your body move away from the alert state that can make it difficult to settle.
- Reduce anxiety around sleep. Work with worries and expectations about sleep that may be keeping the cycle going.
- Develop healthier sleep associations. Encourage a calmer and more positive relationship with bedtime and your sleep environment.
- Build a relaxing bedtime routine. Develop practical relaxation techniques that can help you prepare your mind and body for sleep.
- Improve confidence in your ability to sleep. Reduce the fear of another sleepless night and develop greater trust in your body's natural ability to rest.
- Address stress that may be affecting your sleep. Explore the relationship between everyday pressure, anxious thoughts and difficulties switching off at night.