Sleep, Wonderful Sleep.....

by Sue Dolence, LCSW

Sleep…wonderful sleep…. Or is it sleep…elusive sleep? If you are one of the 60 million people who suffer from insomnia in the U.S. each year, the idea of going to sleep can leave you with a feeling of dread. Some people have trouble falling asleep, some people get up in the middle of the night, unable to fall back to sleep, and some people cannot wake up in the morning.

So, why do we need sleep? If it’s been awhile since you’ve gotten a good night’s sleep, you probably can name a long list of the ways lack of sleep interferes with your life, including difficulty making decisions and solving problems, controlling emotions and behavior, and coping with change. But did you know that chronic lack of sleep also affects physical health? Ongoing sleep difficulty is linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.

Insomnia is all about behaviors and thoughts. Over time, we can develop behaviors around our sleep which actually interfere with getting sleep. In addition, once we start losing sleep time, we start to have all kinds of thoughts about sleep, or lack thereof, which increases our anxiety and, once again, interferes with our ability to sleep. It’s a vicious cycle.

Many people begin talking about their sleep problems with a physician and usually get some sort of sleep aid prescribed. Many sleep medications are proven to work for a short period of time and then either lose their potency or stop working altogether. So, where does that leave us? There are a few simple strategies that people can try to improve their sleep:

1.) Go to bed at the same time every night and wake up at the same time every morning.

2.) Create a “buffer zone” between nighttime activities and bedtime. This should be a time when you can participate in “wind-down” activities, such as taking a bath/shower, reading a book and/or doing some meditation.

3.) If you choose to read on a kindle or other electronic device, get yourself a blue light screen protector to filter out those light rays that can interfere with sleep

4.) Limit caffeine intake to 3-4 hours before bedtime.

5.) Use your bed only for sleeping and that other S- don’t read, eat, watch TV or surf the internet while in bed.

A therapist can help guide you through these and many other non-pharmaceutical solutions to sleep and elaborate on other behavioral interventions available. Treatment approaches may also use Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) which addresses both the behaviors and thoughts that interfere with sleep. CBT-I is shown to work better than sleep medication over the long-term and will help people learn the tools they need should they have another period of sleeplessness within their lifetime. The best part is, that it usually takes between 2-3 sessions before people start to find some relief!

If you suffer from sleeplessness and feel this is something you might like to try, Sunlight Center for Change offers therapy to those seeking a better quantity and quality of sleep. Please contact our front desk to schedule an appointment (520) 344-0056.

Sue Dolence, LCSW, is a licensed therapist who recently joined the SCC team. She has worked in the field of social services for the past 16 years. She is trained in evidence-based therapies and specializes in working with veterans, teens, families, and older adults.