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some thoughts on sleep hygiene and sleep obsession

Posted by Abby N on July 27, 2001 at 09:05:09:

I think most people on this forum have heard a great deal on 'sleep hygiene' -- things to do to reinforce the association between your bed and sleep. I wanted to offer the observation that when I make a point to observe these things (such as going to bed and getting up at the same time; doing something relaxing prior to going to bed, etc.) it mostly serves to remind me that sleep is an issue for me and keeps thoughts about sleep and insomnia uppermost in my mind.

In the past couple weeks, I've been very busy with work and meetings and travel and houseguests and have rarely gone to bed at the same time and have slept in various strange beds and frequently have engaged in late evening social activities. Interestingly, I've slept very well and don't even remember thinking about sleep (I think that, in part, because of this I've been able to successfully reduce the medication that I use over this time).

When my activities were winding down I found the sleep thoughts and a teeny bit of fear creeping back. So I became more active, especially in evenings, with gardening, inviting guests over, working on house projects, etc. and not really paying attention to going to bed and getting up at the same time. I let my husband be in charge of the alarm and I don't even know what he has it set for. I also visit this forum only once/day, and only in the morning, to reduce how much I think about sleep. Then, if, during the day, sleep issues arise in my mind, they are easily replaced with my various plans for evening activities. Amazingly, this has worked and again I'm reducing my sleep medication with no problems.

I know that some of this stuff (but not all) runs counter to accepted wisdom regarding sleep hygiene, but just in case someone else has noticed that some aspects of sleep hygiene aren't getting them anywhere, maybe these observations would be useful??

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