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In my experience, anxiety-induced insomnia is an entirely different beast. I went through CBT-i and had a strongly negative experience: its strict rules made be
by npinsker 5y ago
In my experience, anxiety-induced insomnia is an entirely different beast. I went through CBT-i and had a strongly negative experience: its strict rules made bed and bedtime feel like a prison (now I can't even lie quietly in my bed?!), and it made my insomnia even worse. More generally, "optimizing" for sleep, thinking about it at all, seems like a horribly counterproductive thing to do for somebody anxious.
Mindfulness meditation has been an enormous help for me also. It's not an exaggeration to say it's been life-changing. Vigorous exercise (it needs to be vigorous) as much as possible has also been great.
- tinyhouse 5y agoCan you recommend a path to start with mindfulness meditation?
- npinsker 5y agoHeadspace (or similar apps? I haven't tried others) is great. If you're feeling up to it, the program I'd most strongly recommend is mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), which asks for 45 minutes from you every day for 8 weeks. It was hard for me to be still for so long at first, but gets easier surprisingly quickly.
- tinyhouse 5y agoThank you! Are you referring to this course or something else? https://palousemindfulness.com/ https://palousemindfulness.com/
- wasnthere 5y agoGet this book(let) pronto - https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545899/how-to-relax-by-thich-nhat-hanh/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545899/how-to-relax... Did wonders for me in terms of helping me “empty my mind” and therefore relax, sleep well etc. I would strongly recommend getting apps like Headspace, Calm after you’ve internalized the “theory” of the practice of relaxation. Good luck!