How Eric changed the way he responded to insomnia, stopped battling with his mind, and improved his sleep for the long term (#44)

Listen to the podcast episode (audio only) Like many people with chronic insomnia, Eric found that the more he tried to make sleep happen, the more difficult it became. Although he didn't have any real issues falling asleep, he would regularly wake during the night and find it hard to fall back to sleep. His mind would start racing and he would experience a lot of anxiety. Eric found himself getting obsessed with sleep. He was thinking about it all the time and no matter how hard he tried to relax and no matter what he tried, things just didn't improve. When we started working together, one of the first changes Eric made was to reduce the amount of time he allotted for sleep to more closely match the amount of sleep he was getting at the time. This allowed him to rediscover the sensation of sleepiness rather than fatigue and that proved to be both reassuring and motivating. Eric also started to respond to nighttime wakefulness in a more workable way. Instead of tossing and turning all night, trying to make sleep happen and trying to relax, he decided to draw instead. This helped make wakefulness a bit more pleasant and helped train his brain that wakefulness wasn't a threat that it needed to be alert at night to protect him from. Finally, Eric committed to doing things that mattered to him — to live the kind of life he wanted to live — independently of sleep. Eric experienced rapid improvements in his sleep as he changed his response to insomnia and all the difficult thoughts and feelings that come with it. He no longer takes sleeping pills and today, more than one-and-a-half years after we worked together, Eric is no longer engaged in a daily (and nightly) battle with his mind and he continues to sleep well. Click here for a full transcript of this episode.Click here to hide the transcript. Martin Reed: Welcome to the Insomnia Coach Podcast. My name is Martin Reed. I believe that by changing how we respond to insomnia and all the difficult thoughts and feelings that come with it, we can move away from struggling with insomnia and toward living the life we want to live. Martin Reed: The content of this podcast is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. The statements and opinions expressed by guests are their own and are not necessarily endorsed by Insomnia Coach LLC. All content is provided "as is" and without warranties, either express or implied. Martin Reed: So, Eric, thank you so much for taking the time out for your day to come onto the podcast. Eric Myers: Yeah, thanks for having me. Martin Reed: It's great to have you on. I'm really looking forward to everything that we are going to end up talking about today. So let's just start right at the beginning. Can you tell us a little bit more about when your sleep problems first began and what you think may have initially triggered that sleep disruption? Eric Myers: It was the spring of 2020, so this is when the beginning of the COVID hysteria and stuff. And I think I had some health anxiety. I tried not to get caught up in all that stuff, but I think, I don't know, I have a tendency to be a little bit of a hypochondriac anyway, so I probably didn't help. I remember it was starting to interfere with my sleep. I wasn't sure what was going on. I remember talking to my doctor about it,