"Like clockwork, you get ready for bed at 9:30 every night, even if you aren't particularly tired, then you slip between the sheets and hope to nod off by 10:15 at the latest. But what if you don't? According to sleep expert, one of the best things you can do is toss off your covers and stay awake. This method is called " sleep restriction," which refers to the idea that you should only go to bed when you're actually tired."
"According to Karsyn Kapp, LPC, a licensed therapist and sleep expert at BodyMind Alliance Counseling & Consulting, sleep restriction is the gold standard treatment for insomnia. While it might sound like it's about cutting back on sleep, it's actually about restricting the time you spend awake in bed. "Sleep restriction is actually more like 'tossing and turning restriction,'" she tells Bustle."
"Instead of lying there feeling anxious and agitated - something that can train your brain to associate bedtime with stress - you're supposed to get up and do something else. Better yet, you can skip the tossing entirely by going to bed only when you're truly tired. That's what sleep restriction is all about."
Sleep restriction means limiting the time spent awake in bed and going to bed only when truly tired. The method instructs people to get up and do something else instead of lying awake and anxious. Lying awake can train the brain to associate bedtime with stress, which worsens insomnia. A change of scenery or leaving the bed when sleepless can help restore sleepiness. Licensed therapists identify sleep restriction as a leading behavioral treatment for insomnia, reframing bedtime as a cue for sleep rather than a place for wakefulness and worry.
Read at Bustle
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]