On a breezy summer morning in May of 2014, I strolled through my neighborhood, taking deep breaths and letting the sun warm my face, oblivious to the fact that this was the last day in a very long time I would feel normal and healthy. I had no idea the next day would begin a two-year journey with Adrenal Fatigue and chronic illness. No idea that I would barely be able to walk to the mailbox or put dinner in the over for our four young children. No idea that one of the blessings of being sick was that I was about to relearn how to sleep.
Thanking each person who helped me heal from my chronic illness would be like trying to thank each drop of water holding me up as I float on the ocean. There are just too many to count. But I wish I could hand Dr. Gregg Jacobs, author of Say Good Night to Insomnia, a giant trophy with a sleeping baby on top.
Having adrenal fatigue caused insomnia. The irony was that sleep was essential to healing from adrenal fatigue! My clinically diagnosed ADHD did not help matters. As this article from webmd.com details, Studies have shown up to 67% of people with ADHD suffer from insomnia. I imagine that other people who suffer from chronic diseases and disorders feel this bitter irony. But.
But…
Although I have little control over my disease and disorder, I learned I do have control over thoughts and behaviors that control sleep. I’m going to say that again. I have control over thoughts and behaviors that control sleep. This truth has set me free. Free to sleep!
In this article I will cover three points of the book that helped me learn to sleep: 1) the proof that it improves sleep for 100% of people who follow this program, 2) basic sleep hygiene that I was oblivious to, and 3) how cognitive behavioral therapy makes this process work.
The Proof
First the proof.
This from the forward of the book: 100% of patients treated with this intervention report improved sleep, 75% become normal sleepers, and 90% reduce or eliminate sleeping pills.
100% of people improved their sleep.
100%.
We are talking about real numbers from Harvard Medical School studies. Studies duplicated at other colleges are published in scientific medical journals. This is more than good reviews on Amazon! (Although the reviews were my first motivator for buying the book.)
Then there’s the fact that I tried this method, it worked, and it still works five years later. What are five years of good sleep worth? Five years that allowed me to heal. Five years in which I raised our children. Five years I spent with my amazing husband. You, Gregg Jacob, are a blessing to humanity.
The Hygiene
Now, let’s get down the nuts and bolts: sleep hygiene.
Sleep hygiene is a set of basic rules around healthy sleep. There are some which are not surprising, like having a consistent schedule. But there were some bad habits I did not realize were sabotaging me. Because I suffered from insomnia, for example, I found myself taking a lot of naps during the day to recover. This habit was actually causing a downward spiral of insomnia disaster.
Here’s a quote from page 24 of the book:
In an attempt to cope with insomnia, most insomniacs begin to engage in an assortment of behaviors, or habits, that may seem to help in the short run but actually, sustain insomnia. Here are some examples that will undoubtedly sound familiar:
- Going to bed earlier, sleeping later (especially on weekends), and spending more time in bed in an effort to “catch up” on sleep
- Trying to control or “force” sleep in the belief that if “I just try a little harder, sleep is bound to come”
- taking naps
There is quite a list of these habits to work on but he presents them in a manageable formula. I’m very easily overwhelmed but when I read this book, I thought, “I can do this!” He provides tools of personal assessment and gives a good sense of what to work on first.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
What is harder than changing physical habits? Changing mental habits. Which leads me to the third and final point of helpfulness: cognitive behavioral therapy.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a type of therapy in which you challenge the way you think about certain things. How I thought about sleep dramatically affected the way I slept!
I would panic. “I’ll never be able to function tomorrow!” I would say over and over to myself. “I’ll have a lack-of-sleep headache all day!”
This book gives a simple and realistic outline of how to turn negative sleep thoughts into positive sleep thoughts, taking away the anxiety of insomnia and making it easier to sleep.
The 60-second sleep journal was my favorite tool in the whole book. In a minute or less, I am able to evaluate which cognitive behavioral therapies and sleep habits are working. In the last five years, different challenges have knocked me off the good sleep wagon. Using his simple sleep journal, I am able to identify problem areas and climb right back on.
A happy ending
These days, I run around the neighborhood instead of walk. My well-rested body soaks up the sun and enjoys the laughter of my children. Thank you, Dr. Jacobs, for giving me the knowledge and techniques to turn the enemy of insomnia into a friend of peaceful sleep.
