Posted by Bob in Mtn View on June 30, 2008 at 11:47:42:

In Reply to: Anybody having luck with CBT? posted by Sean on June 27, 2008 at 06:51:31:

I wonder if you are putting pressure on yourself by expecting CBT to solve all your problems quickly? To me, the essence of CBT is looking at your thoughts as calmly as you can and sorting out the ones that are realistic from those that are not and disputing the unrealistic ones.

The basic thought that I had to replace was that I cannot sleep without a sleep medicine. The medicines were having bad side effects and this thought was causing tremendous stress and, as you can imagine, making my insomnia worse.

I finally had to stop using the medicines and learned through experience that I could function with little sleep and if I got tired enough I would sleep. Over time, this has reduced my stress. And, as Tom mentions, not taking medicine reduces the stress about whether to take it and how much.

But this has taken a long time and I am still working on it. I have bad spells but I try to build on the success I have had to get me through them. So, I would say to give yourself time and learn what works for you.

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