Beating Insomnia

‘Why am I anxious, what am I thinking? Is that thought realistic or probable? No. Is there a more realistic thought or more probable outcome? Yes. Do I accept that alternative thought? Yes. Does that make me feel better? Yes.’ That process takes 10 to 20 seconds, because it’s second nature now as I’ve done it thousands of times.

Many diabetics sleep poorly and improving sleep is an important factor in improving control of blood sugar.

the stress you are under self-inflicted, at least in part? Do you have a way of relaxing?

elicit the desired response. Regularly reading for 20 minutes or so before turning the light off can be helpful, but your reading material needs to be chosen carefully

our parents, teachers and peers fail to teach us that ‘I’m OK and the world is OK’, we tend to lead our lives fearfully, expecting the worst and constantly guarding against

depressive disorder), the typical disturbance, on the contrary, is early morning waking. The person falls asleep easily enough, only to wake in the early hours, often being unable to fall back to sleep. The hours before dawn can be particularly horrible owing to diurnal variation of mood: that is, someone feeling at his worst when he wakes up and g

The point is that if your life is out of balance, with you going hell for leather after only one goal, you are going to run too hot and lack the cues which your body needs to switch on the sleep response.

Anything which annoys you will tend to keep you awake, while anything comfortingly familiar will prepare you for sleep. Many

amitriptyline (Triptizol) or agomelatine (Valdoxan) (see Chapter 11). The last of these is only mildly sedative, but working in part on the melatonin system is purported to improve the circadian rhythm, effectively resetting your sleep clock. This may be a better way than pure sedation