The number of people suffering from sleep disorders or insomnia is increasing these days. Even though the reasons for insomnia may differ from person to person, it is a cause of serious concern. Insomnia can lead to serious problems like depression, high blood pressure and heart problems. It can affect your day to day activities and you may even lose interest in doing your daily work.
Many researchers are trying various means to treat sleep disorder. Right from replacing your mattress to using high tech sleep tracking/ sleep enhancing devices and apps- everything is being tried out to ensure that people suffering from sleep deprivation get 8 hours of sound sleep daily. Some people even try natural remedies to overcome the sleeping problem. But does all that work? Does it lead to improvement in sleep? It helps some people to a certain extent but there is no guarantee.
What is Talk Therapy?
Talk therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one treatment experts are recommending for patients suffering from insomnia or sleeping disorder. They believe that talk therapy is as good as taking medicines or drugs for treating sleeping disorder.
Experts believe that cognitive behavioral therapy or talk therapy has long term benefits compared to taking pills. Without taking any pills, with the help of talk therapy you can easily treat a person suffering from serious sleeping disorder.
In cognitive behavioral therapy, the person suffering from insomnia undergoes therapy with a specialist, who teaches the patient to focus on things at hand, improve their overall thinking and behavioral pattern. It helps the person to overcome negative thoughts that maybe the reason for the lack of quality sleep.
Components of behavioral therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy has two components:
- You are taught to recognize negative thoughts and overcome them for getting better sleep.
- You are taught to change your behavioral pattern so that you don’t stay awake at night.
This therapy will help you keep your mind fresh and free from bad thoughts.
Topics Covered in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Sleeping Disorder
In the behavioral techniques that are taught to people as a part of cognitive behavioral therapy, a person is taught the following points.
- Sleep restriction therapy does not allow you to lie simply on your bed and also forces you to get up from bed after the regular sleeping hours. This ensures that the time spent in bed is less and the sleeping time is more. This increases sleeping efficiency.
- Stimulus controlling therapy is a way in which you are taught to avoid negative thinking that prevents you from sleeping well at night.
- To improve your sleeping environment, the quality of your mattress and pillows should be good so that you can sleep better. If your mattress is old, buy one after studying the reviews and ratings of various mattresses and brands in bestmattress-brand.org.
- To remove anxiety so that you can sleep well.
- Training on how to relax and keep your mind free from stress and anxiety.
- Usage of external devices to monitor your blood pressure, heart beat, and sleeping patterns.
Role of a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Specialist in Helping You Recover From Sleep Disorder
The cognitive behavioral therapy specialist helps you to reduce stress using stress management techniques. Your specialist will make sure your mind is free from all kinds of tensions at home or at work. The specialist will also help you to be positive and confident in your outlook. They will also make sure you have your dinner at least 2 to 3 hours before going to bed and avoid drinks that contain caffeine, nicotine and other harmful substances that can disturb your sleep. The cognitive behavioral therapy specialist will also ensure that you engage in a lot of physical activities during the day time so that your body gets tired and you fall asleep quickly.