Tired of Trying?? Wide Awake in the middle of the Night?

Wed MD Magazine reviewed by

Michael Breus, PHD,D,AB SM Sleep Specialist

Leslie Partridge Sachs has a very active life as a mother, a dancer, and a choreographer. Leslie has always had trouble falling asleep even as a child, as she grew older and had children her insomnia worsened. She usually wakes up at 3:30 or 4:00 and can’t go back to sleep. She can hear the slightest noise and be awakened, if her daughter rolls over in the next room her eyes are wide awake. On average she sleeps four to five hours a night,after having a restless night, she is irritable and short-tempered the next day. “One in three American adults suffer from occasional insomnia.” Women are more likely than men to have sleep disorders. Sleep deprivation can cause high blood, obesity, diabetes, depression, accidents, and anxiety. The solution to insomnia may be simpler than we think. If you wake up and can’t go back to sleep, “No matter the time of night, you should get out of bed and do something else,” says Matthew Edden, PhD, a certified sleep specialist at the center for sleep Medicine at NY Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and assistant professor of psychology in neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College. If you lie in the bed, you trick your mind and body into believing that your bed is a place where you worry. He says you should read a book or watch T.V., do not turn on any lights or do anything active so you can stay in a relaxed state. If you have chronic insomnia you should see a sleep study specialist to learn more about cognitive-behavior techniques, including visualization, thought-stopping, and better sleep habits that allow you to change your thoughts and behaviors instead of taking pills.

This article talks about insomnia, which is one of the most common sleep disorders in America. Insomnia is tied to mental distress and anxiety disorders.Cognitive-behavior therapy helps patients change the way they think, as well as the way they behave. Leslie also has to practice relaxation therapy techniques in order to control her sleep disorder and her behavior.