Can’t sleep? Tried everything?
Why can’t I sleep? Insomnia is life changing. You have tried the pills, herbal remedies, lifestyle changes and maybe even old wives’ tales – but nothing seems to work. We at Sleepyhead Clinic offer you the most scientifically proven technique tailored to you, delivered by an experienced sleep expert to get rid of insomnia and get your sleep back on track – and stay on track.
Thank you very much for all of your help advice and patience. I have slept the best I have slept for years over the past few weeks, so long may it last (and if it doesn’t I know what to do now!).
FD, Exeter
All that is required from you is that you actively commit to the program, just as the Sleepyhead Clinic will commit to all its patients. Read on for more information about insomnia and the treatment program.
What is insomnia?
Insomnia can present in various ways and has many causes. It is defined by either problems getting to sleep or problems staying asleep, early morning awakenings or all of them! This makes for very non-restorative sleep. This is accompanied by significant stress in our social, occupational or other important areas of our lives due to the low energy, poor concentration, attention and memory that comes along with poor sleep. This can go on to affect our moods and our ability to cope with work and social responsibilities. This usually occurs for at least three nights a week and is considered a sleep disorder if it lasts longer than three months. It is an extremely lonely condition, and it is very common.
Insomnia has many different causes. Mental health conditions, an inability to wind down, pain, work, stress, social issues, becoming a parent, moving home, getting divorced, coping with other medical disorders….the list goes on and on. Equally insomnia can be the cause of some of these issues itself! The point is, it doesn’t matter what the original cause was for disrupting your night’s sleep, because the factors that perpetuate the problem are rarely the same. That means you could take away all the causes, and you might still find yourself with a sleep problem. Most insomnia related issues are habitual; meaning that this awful, fragmented sleeping arrangement is actually some sort of routine that your body has got itself used to.
As a society we don’t know a lot about sleep but the beliefs we do have about sleep are generally not based in science and so what seem like common sense ways to fix sleep problems, are actually making them worse. We also tend to feel isolated going through the condition, as your friends and family don’t understand it, and every sleep hack/magic sleep solution doesn’t seem to work for you…. it becomes a lonelier and lonelier place.
However, there is a solution and that’s what we provide at the Sleepyhead Clinic. We base our heavily scientific and evidence based programs on CBTi or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTi).
What is CBTi?
CBTi is different from other forms of cognitive behavioural therapy. CBTi is based in behavioural sleep medicine – a combination of scientific and effective strategies that when working in sync, help get sleep back on track. We know that when you follow CBTi in a mere matter of weeks, sleep can be transformed!
There are three main aspects of the treatment that usually need to be tackled in the right order.
1. Correcting the inaccurate information we thought we knew about sleep.
Our belief system is a powerful thing, dictating our actions and behaviours, so correcting it and our actions that come from them in favour of the most influential scientific behaviours is very important. Understanding the ‘why’ behind these methods will help you understand things like your sleep drive and cycle …. suddenly the beliefs that held so much sleep anxiety will be less powerful as you see evidence of the new method working for you, and in turn your thoughts around sleep transforming.
2. Getting rid of the broken parts.
Whilst step 1 can improve sleep significantly, getting rid of those engrained broken areas takes time and some personalisation – we need to find the right sleep window for you to build sleep pressure and to encourage your brain to sleep through areas it once was wide awake in. We work this method out for you based on your sleep diaries, and we adapt it to compromise with your responsibilities and lifestyle (after all, it has to be sustainable in order to be successful).
3. Building consistency over time to create a new strong sleep pattern that sticks – this is important – like repeating physio exercises to make muscles strong.
Even if you see results quickly, it doesn’t mean you have done the work to make sure it doesn’t happen again. To build expertise in something, even if you have beginners luck, building consistency over time whilst going through life’s variables and twists and turns, and understanding how to adapt to them, is key.
How does Sleepyhead Clinic deliver this?
Our programs are delivered between 8 and 10 weeks. These can be one to one sessions or group sessions. Our programs can be adapted for most mental or physical medical issues that may be going on at the time – just keep us informed. The great thing about our programs is that we don’t just deliver CBTi, we coach you through it using other scientific techniques to make the program easier and more personalised to you, because just like losing weight – one size does not fit all, and life often gets in the way. We know how to make it work for you anyway.
Differences can be seen after just a month if applying all the strategies and these differences can be life changing and long term. That means you won’t have to implement CBTi strategies forever, just until you feel comfortable with your sleep. After this you will become a normal sleeper- someone who doesn’t follow all the rules all the time, but gets good sleep most of the time anyway!
