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7/24/2019 To Get Better Sleep

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To Get Better Sleep, Maybe Try Staying

Awake

By Melissa Dahl Follow @melissadahl

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Photo: Geon-soo Park/Sung-Il Kim/Corbis

So you cant slee. !n estimated "# ercento$ !mericans su$$er $rom chronic insomnia% and thesensi&le% standard ad'ice (i'en to them is to ractice slee hy(iene and simly try (oin( to &ed

earlier. )$ *or when+ this $ails% there are o$ course do,ens o$ slee medications a'aila&le o'er the

counter or 'ia rescrition.

!nd yet the &est treatment $or chronic insomnia% accordin( to the scienti$ic literature% is one thatmost eole ha'ent tried% no dou&t at least in art &ecause it sounds insane- The secret to (ettin(

&etter slee may &e to urose$ully (et lesso$ it% at least $or a time.

)ts called slee restriction theray% and its a comonent o$ BT/) 0 that is% co(niti'e &eha'ioral

theray seci$ically $or insomnia. The idea is to reduce the amount o$ time you send tryin( toslee to the actual num&er o$ hours you are caa&le o$ sleein(. 1eres how it works- ou kee

care$ul track o$ how much slee you are really (ettin( $or se'eral weeks 0 lets say its a&out

$i'e and a hal$ solid hours er ni(ht. Then you set a nonne(otia&le wake/u time% usually thelatest ossi&le hour you can (et u and still mana(e to (et to work on time 0 say% 3-"# a.m. So%

under the (uidelines o$ slee restriction theray% you dont allow yoursel$ to (o to &ed until 4
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a.m. )$ youre success$ully sleein( durin( that time% you (radually allow yoursel$ to (o to &ed

earlier% in a&out 45/minute increments% until youre sleein( a sound se'en to ei(ht hours er

ni(ht.

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1ow our Feet an 1el ou Slee1ow to 6et Throu(h a 7orkday on o Slee

9$ course% the last thin( a erson who cant slee wants to do is intentionally deri'e himsel$ o$

the 'ery thin( hes a$ter. !nd yet the &ulk o$ the e'idence shows that it works% at least as well as0 or% accordin( to some studies% &etter than 0 medication. :ate this summer% $or e;amle% a

re'iewo$ 2# studies e;aminin( the e$$icacy o$ BT/) was u&lished in thennals o! Internal

"e#i$ine% $indin( that this aroach to $i(htin( insomnia was a&out eust slee restriction 0 it $ocuseson chan(in( an insomniacs thou(hts and&eha'iors re(ardin( slee% and much o$ it does include the tyical slee ad'ice% like shuttin( o$$

your electronic de'ices a&out an hour &e$ore slee or (oin( to &ed and (ettin( u at the same

time e'ery day. This is all $ine and (ood% says Dr. Michael Perlis% director o$ the &eha'ioral slee

medicine ro(ram at the ?ni'ersity o$ Pennsyl'anias Perelman School o$ Medicine its whenhe introduces the slee restriction art o$ BT/) that he tends to lose eole. AThe minute they

$ind out what theyre suosed to do% thats the end% he said. ATheyre done. !nd this% Perlis

and other slee secialists Science o$ ?s inter'iewed said% is no dou&t a &i( art o$ the reasonwhy the theray is woe$ully underutili,ed% desite the ra$t o$ e'idence &ackin( it u. CPeole (et

'ery $ocused on total slee time% on how much slee they (ot%C Perlis said. C!nd they $or(et what

actually isses them o$$ is not si; hours o$ slee 0 thats not (reat. But %aiting$or slee% &ein(in &ed at the middle o$ the ni(ht starin( at the ceilin( &hat's what you want to (et rid o$.C

But slee restriction% to ut it mildly% is hard. =eally% really hard. For insomniacs% resistin( the

ull o$ slee when it &lessedly% $inally makes itsel$ known (oes a(ainst their e'ery instinct. Ben

ohnson% a li&rarian in Seattle% tried it $or a&out $our weeks in Setem&er% a$ter a nine/month &outo$ chronic insomnia. By nature and &y ro$ession ohnson is a meticulous researcher% so he

thou(ht he knew what he was in $or% yet it was still much more di$$icult than he e;ected. AThe

$irst week was hard% &ut then &y week two the cool new $actor o$ the whole thin( had worn o$$.ou know% &his gran# e()eriment* &his %ill hel) me out* By the second week ) was >ust sort o$

like%+ell, this is hel)ing, be$ause Im slee)ing more soun#l% &ut at the same time ) was also

like% S$re% this, this is terrible% ohnson said. )t was di$$icult enou(h to stay u at ni(ht durin(the day% at work and at home as he tried to lay with his youn( son% he $elt like a ,om&ie. A)t wasreally hard to &e a erson% he said. C)t was really di$$icult to do anythin( GotherH than% like% stare

into sace. Still% he ket at it% until he stretched the $i'e and a hal$ hours he had &een sleein( to

se'en.

!s it turns out% the reason %h slee restriction 0 and BT/) as a whole 0 works may &e as

simle as some old/$ashioned classical conditionin(% that stale o$ sych 4#4 classes% e;lained
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Perlis. oure so e;hausted &y the time you hit the illow that you immediately $all into a dee

slee% so% in time% your mind starts associatin( your &ed with actual% rest$ul slee. The $li side o$

this e;lains why insomnia can &e so hard to (et o'er% too- Too many anicked% sleeless ni(htsand you start associatin( the act o$ tryin( to slee with $ailin( to slee.

Besides% you likely know $rom e;erience that the amount o$ time it takes to (et somethin(imortant done tends to shrink or e;and to the amount o$ time you allow it. )ts why many new

arents reort their roducti'ity at work increases a$ter they ha'e children when they can nolon(er stay late at work to comlete a ro>ect% suddenly theyre a&le to (et it done durin( the

workday. A7hen thin(s a&solutely ha'e to (et done% they ha'e a curious way o$ (ettin( done%

wrote 9li'er Burkeman in a recent columnat &he Guar#ian re(ardin( his own e;erience withslee restriction% and it aears to &e true. The same rincile that alies to deadlines seems to

aly to slee% too.
http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/having-babies-makes-you-better-at-work.htmlhttp://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/having-babies-makes-you-better-at-work.htmlhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/28/sleep-restriction-therapyhttp://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/having-babies-makes-you-better-at-work.htmlhttp://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/having-babies-makes-you-better-at-work.htmlhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/aug/28/sleep-restriction-therapy

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