Sleep Restriction Therapy: Your New Sleep Metric Lesson 5B

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Lesson Summary on Sleep Restriction Therapy:

Compact sleep is about the time you spend in bed verus asleep. It is one of the functions and mechanisms of sleep.
A bad strategy to deal with insomnia is to spend more time in bed trying to sleep. But this makes sleep more elusive. It is not how to cure insomnia.
Do I have insomnia? Non-compact sleep is a reliable sign you do. Use sleep restriction therapy to cure it.
The way sleep works: 1 – You build up enough sleep pressure. 2 – Your circadian rhythm prepares your brain and body for sleep. 3 – Your brain checks that it is safe to sleep.
You can’t make sleep happen, you only improve the probability it will happen. One way is with sleep restriction.
Things you do or have that are not on the CBTi or Cognitive Therapy for Insomnia ciriculum likely by themselves don’t make you sleep.
Compact sleep increases your sleep drive and re-builds your sleep confidence.
Compact sleep is measured by sleep efficiency: Time sleeping / Time in bed. It answers “Do I have insomnia?”
If you have a low sleep efficiency, it is a better predictor that you have insomnia than how long you sleep. That makes it your new sleep metric.
To measure and improve your sleep efficiency, see the Links section.
Normal sleep efficiency is 80% to 90%. Compacting your sleep will get you to this goal.
It is normal to awaken at night. A person needing 7 hours of sleep with 80% sleep efficiency is awake 1 3/4 hours.
To compact your sleep you set a sleep duration and then adjust based on your efficiency. See the Links section for details on how to do this.
When compacting your sleep you may notice that you feel and function better on less sleep.
Compacting your sleep is hard to do. Use caution if alertness is essential for safety reasons or if a medical or mental condition might be adversely affected. Consult your health care professional 1st.
Compacting your sleep is the hardest but fastest way of improving your insomnia.
Napping is discouraged while compacting, but allowed if done right: 20 to 25 minutes maximum and before 4 pm.
Over the long run it is easy to fall back into low sleep efficiency. Sign up below to be reminded occasionally to check your sleep efficiency.
Dr. Daniel Erichsen’s BedTyme app with personalized coaching included can help you be successful at CBTi. It include sleep restriction therapy for insomnia.