Have sleep problems? Do you have trouble falling asleep? Or do you wake up and have trouble going back to sleep?

I have problems with waking up at 3 to 4 am and not going back to sleep. It started a few years ago when I was very stressed about something. The big stress went away, but my waking in the night did not.

Today in the NYT health section there is an article about sleep problems. The article has a number of interesting facts.

Only 28% of adults get 8 hours of sleep per night
20% of adults sleep 6 or fewer hours per night
The market for insomnia drugs will be $3.9 billion by 2012

The article has the usual advice. Exercise, try to relax, reduce stress, do no consume caffeine or other stimulants after mid afternoon, do not have more than one alcoholic beverage at night, try not do, or get involved in, anything stressful in the evening, do not watch TV in bed and don’t clock watch in the night.

There was also some information about cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT. The idea of CBT is to try to change “bad” behaviors. A number of studies have shown that it can be effective for insomnia. In the article it said you can do CBT for insomnia online at www.cbtforinsomnia.com

The article stated that, 81% of 118 subjects who used online CBT for insomnia said that it improved the quality of their sleep, and 35% said it greatly improved their sleep.

I decided what the hell for $24.95. I downloaded the 5 pdfs and read the first one about sleep and sleep problems. Now I have to keep a sleep diary for a week. It will be evaluated and then I will be given guidelines. The course lasts for 5 weeks.

I will let you know how I get on.

photo credit: Herkie

[tags]sleep problems, cognitive behavioral therapy, CBT, sleep diary[/tags]