End the Insomnia Struggle: A Step-by-Step Guide to Help You Get to Sleep and Stay Asleep

I won't bore readers with my long history of insomnia. Just know that I won't take sleeping pills because of the side effects, but I've tried melatonin and every other supplement and suggestion supposedly guaranteed to make a person sleepy. It's impossible to calculate how much money I've wasted.End the Insomnia Struggle is the only method I've found that addresses the whole person and all the nitty-gritty problems involved in chronically not sleeping. The cognitive behavioral approach is challenging, but then, insomnia is no joke. It's a deeply ingrained habit that we perpetuate through conscious and unconscious thoughts and actions every day. "Habit" is the operative word. In order to successfully tackle insomnia, you may have to alter some longstanding habits that you may not want to change, such as the pleasure you get from staying up really late watching videos in bed because you can't sleep. The authors have created a multi-faceted program that you, and you alone, must commit to and work on with a lot of patience. There's no hurry, because let's face it, you're not sleeping anyway.The authors have drilled down to the core of the problem, but everybody has their own specific issues. As I've worked with the book, I've come to see why the methodology is what it is. Changing our habits isn't easy, but the concrete suggestions are designed to address every road block you'll encounter. You'll need to look at your sleep hygiene (are your bedroom and your bed comfortable? do you try to make up for lost sleep by sleeping really late on the weekends?). You'll need to examine how you think and feel about sleep. There's a lot of wiggle room and the authors state over and over again that you choose your level of commitment. Do as much or as little as you like, while recognizing that the more you integrate all aspects of the program into your routine, the quicker you'll start sleeping. In order to help you, the book is linked to guided meditations and exercises on the publisher's website, and you can download the forms you'll be filling out to organize your program and track your progress.One of the biggest improvements I've seen in the six weeks I've been working with this method is in regards to my opinion of myself. I'm much kinder to myself than I used to be. This isn't just airy-fairy stuff. It had A LOT to do with why I wasn't sleeping. I still have good and bad days, and there are still times when I only get four hours of sleep. But sometimes I “miraculously” fall asleep within a half-hour of going to bed and get six or even seven hours. The overall trend is in the right direction, and I've given up the catastrophizing that used to keep me awake the whole night. I've also let go of worrying about when I'm going to be totally cured. Given that I'm 66 years old and have had insomnia since at least the age of 10, that's over half a century of ingrained bad habits to let go of. If it takes six months, it will be well worth it. In fact, it's already been worth it.If you're looking for a quick fix that ends your insomnia in one day, go to the doctor and get expensive, toxic pills and hope you don't start walking, eating and driving in your sleep. But if you’re willing to do the work, have patience, and incorporate as many of the behavioral and cognitive suggestions as you can, your sleep — and your life — will improve over time.

I've been struggling with sleep problems for over 5 years - sometimes I'd have 3-4 hours, sometimes I'd lie awake all night, sometimes I'd get really light 'fitful' sleep, where I was sort of dozing all night but aware of the time, sometimes I'd take hours and hours to get to sleep, other nights I'd wake up in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep. It was ruining my life; my emotions were all over the place and I was exhausted during the day, cancelling plans in order to try and get some sleep.My problem was an overactive mind.I was doing all the sleep hygiene techniques I'd read about - cutting down on caffeine, having a bath before bed, daily meditation, avoiding screens at night, exposure to daylight in the morning, getting up the same time every morning...EVERYTHING and nothing was working. No improvements.Until....I heard the author of this book talk on a podcast called Off the Clock Psychologists. I liked what I heard and thought it was worth a try.The book helps you assess your particular type of insomnia and lets you choose the best technique to tackle it. It works on resetting your relationship to sleep.I implemented the Sleep Restriction Therapy - keeping a sleep log and calculating how many hours a night I was actually sleeping (5.5 hours). Then, setting myself this window to only be allowed in bed for this duration of time for the next week. At the end of each week, if you've been asleep for 90% of the time you're in bed, you can increase the window by 15 minutes. It sounds torturous, and it was at times, but my god it worked!I am now sleeping 7-8 hours a night and the best bit is that I'm not in the slightest bit worried about sleep anymore. The anxiety around it has gone, and also the knowledge that this technique is there for me any time I might need it in the future is such a great source of comfort.Thank you to the authors of this book for changing my life, and for making CBT for insomnia accessible and affordable to the masses.

Great book to read to concur sleeping problems. Very up-to-date. Highly recommend seller who notified me of delay. Recevied product as described. Very happy.

Really about using mindfulness.One good word of advice stop trying to make yourself sleep

Very helpful in better understanding the sleep processes. Practical suggestions and ideas to promote sleep. The worksheets were definitely too cumbersome but I incorporated some