“Traditionally, humans took naps, and even at night, sleep was often broken into 2-3 bigger chunks,” says Grandner.
Polyphasic sleep: The idea behind it is that humans don’t naturally sleep in one big chunk. People can then train themselves to slow those measurements down and use those skills at bedtime. Don’t try it without a doctor’s oversight, Grandner warns, given the potential for side effects.īiofeedback: A sleep specialist hooks a person up to a device where they can watch their own biological signals, like heart rate, brain waves and breathing patterns. As sleep improves, more time in bed is added. Reducing the amount of time spent in bed causes some sleep deprivation, which can help a person feel more tired the next night. Using this technique, a doctor may tell you to only spend five hours in bed and then get up. Imagine trying to sleep eight hours a night, but only succeeding for five of them, spending three hours lying in bed awake. In sleep restriction, another CBT-I practice, a person limits the amount of time they spend in bed not sleeping. Sleep restriction: Ironic, right? “This is the worst name for an insomnia treatment, but it’s shockingly effective,” says Grandner. But it’s a core part of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), which targets a person’s thoughts and behaviors for better sleep, and Grandner says the therapy is simple and powerful. In some cases, people may feel a bit sleep deprived in the first few weeks of practicing stimulus control, since they may have to get out of bed a few times. The goal is to strengthen your body’s association with the bed as a place you only sleep. “If you’re in bed and you’re not asleep, you get out of bed.”
“When you’re in bed, you’re asleep,” says Grandner. Stimulus control: People tend to do stimulating things in bed that have nothing to do with sleep, like reading and watching TV. “If you cross the line to a sleep disorder, you need some help.”īelow are some of the strange-sounding, sleeping pill-free therapies a doctor may prescribe for people who can’t sleep. “Sleep hygiene is like being told to wash your hands: it can prevent an infection, but it can’t treat one,” says Michael Grandner, director of the sleep and health research program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson.
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