My INSOMNIA was a living HELL! But CBTi saved my life!
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- čas přidán 1. 05. 2024
- Ex-insomniac breaks down EXACTLY step-by-step his journey through CBTi. How does it make you think? Feel and what do you do?
And most importantly - did it work?
If you are considering trying CBT-I yourself to help with your own insomnia you need to watch this video so that you know how to prepare yourself!
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About
Joseph Pannell is a former chronic insomniac of 20 years who overcame it with CBT-I. After training in the field he now works with the Sleep Charity, mans a national sleep helpline and runs an online sleep consultancy business. He has worked with some of the largest organisations in Britain including Network Rail, The Ministry of Justice and NHS Health Education England and the MOD.
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INSOMNIA TALKS and the information provided by Joseph Pannell are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. The views expressed on this site, or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health and do not make any behavioural changes before doing so.
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I Just can t understand how cbti ll overcome my anxiety And ll make sleep? I mean my anxiety is always there even ı diminish my time in bed
Hi Senaarman. Often it is thought that in order to fix your insomnia you need to first overcome your anxiety. This is because insomnia is always seen as a symptom of another condition.
However, insomnia is a primary condition. In fact people with insomnia one study has shown are 18X or likely to suffer from anxiety and 9X more likely to suffer from depression.
By getting your sleep back on track anxiety can be massively improved.
Also, bedtime restriction is not the end goal. It is there to quickly rebuild your pattern of sleep by strengthening your sleep drive and regulating your body clock.
Insomnia is driven by two main things - an un regulated pattern of sleep and the thought patterns surrounding it (the anxiety about sleep itself, obsession, control, fear etc etc)
By first quickly dealing with the physiological aspect with bedtime restriction by rebuilding peoples pattern of sleep and strengthening the sleep drive you knock out one of the legs that hold up insomnia, you give people a quick win.
Also, by proving to people they can sleep, and that there is nothing wrong with their ability to do so, this gives people huge confidence in their innate ability to sleep, and when this happens the obsession, and anxiety around sleep greatly diminishes.
Also, because you are spending less time in bed awake, fighting, forcing, pleading with sleep and more time in bed actually sleeping, slowly the brain starts to associate the bed not as a 'torture chamber' but a place where you actually sleep, so in this way it also helps with the fear of the bed and the bedroom.
However, it should be said that bedtime restriction is not CBTi!
This is where practitioners who do not understand insomnia get it so wrong, they simply restrict peoples time in bed, chuck in some stimulus or counter control and that's it.
That's a tiny part of what good CBTi is, maybe 5%.
When it's done properly there is a huge amount of re education around sleep, exposure therapy, ACTi, positive psychology - you are encouraged to face your fears around sleep. There are written exercises to re wire you brain to tackle the thought patterns around it so when the trigger for anxiety occurs you don't trip down the rabbit hole of catastrophizing.
There is normalising of poor quality sleep now and again, there is relapse prevention, there is community support there's.........
This is a problem I run up against time and time again, people who have done bad CBTi (I wouldn't even call my work CBTi anymore as I have expanded way beyond it) and now think it doesn't work.
And I would agree, bedtime restriction in isolation without the proper framework can even make peoples sleep worse as it encourages more effort, force and control around sleep.
However, on my website I have a video review from a guy from Norway called Rune - he had done traditional CBTi for over a year in his country and not seen results. After 2 weeks of my support he as already sleeping better and after 2 months he was back on track.
It's a huge issue how poor insomnia support is, as so few practitioners understand it. But when you really know the root of what drives insomnia it should to me be obvious how it is fixed.
Anyway it's a little hard to explain just on one message what good CBTi is.I'd recommend starting with my beginners playlist "New to the channel? Start here" www.youtube.com/@InsomniaTalks/playlists - and then having a binge watch on my videos to get a better understanding.
This video saved me! You explain every single issue with such accuracy I even keep calling the sleepless night like 'TORTURE'! Yes I did it all....hours and hours of research....in desperate pursuit of that magic pill potion or system...and nothing worked!!
One of the best explanations about cbti and getting to the root cause. Keep up the good work joe 👏
I just got your book and I ordered the workbook...which I'm really looking forward to.After 2 nights I slept 6 1/2 hours.Straight.I can't even remember the last time that happened. I know not every night will be as great, but I've lost all anxiety about possibly having a bad night....which is half the battle. I know now I can still have a great day regardless. Thank you
Hi Sharon, I'm really happy the book has helped you so soon and thank you for buying the work book!
It's very different from the first as the first is about sleep knowledge, practical advice but most importantly confidence and motivation!
The 2nd is a step-bystep guide so i'd say the two compliment each other very well.
But yes you are 100% right, the anxiety, fear, worry around sleep is a huge componenet of insomnia.
It is physiological with the brain taking on an unhelpful pattern of sleep. However, rebuilding of this pattern through the right behaviours can happen very quickly.
The real results come with that thought pattern shift you describe, when the fear, anxiety, and obsession around sleep starts to come down and you stop fearing having bad night like you say.
When the fear stops, the anxiety ends, and you sleep.
But yes I'm really happy for you and I'm so pleased how quickly you have taken on one of the hardest teachings from my work. Often it can take people weeks to reach this point of acceptance, I can see already just from this one comment you are going to do really really well!
Would you mind doing me a massive favour and reviewing the book on Amazon? Literally copying and pasting exactly what you have written here would be perfect.
Feel free to ask questions on my channel when you need support when working through the work book. I will answer them in detail as i'm here to help!
Joe
Your videos and book have been so helpful! You understand us! Do you have any advice for someone who has come a long way and is now an average sleeper most of the time but still struggles in certain situations. For example the night before a long travel day can still be a challenge and can result in little or no sleep (thought patterns like "being so tired am I danger to myself and family driving a car for 10+ hours , I need to leave at 4 AM and without sleep how am I going to navigate through airports, etc."). I assume the same principles for dealing with regular insomnia apply and I just need to have the same attitude but I know the more I "try" the more I will struggle so just curious if there is anything unique you would point out. Thanks!
Hi, thanks for you kind comments about my channel and books.
Yes exactly the same principles I share in the books will apply for these situations (I would perhaps take a look at the thought record again which you'll find in my 2nd book - "The sleep Well work book"
And look at doing these at least a week - a few days before the big event just so you properly deal with these thought patterns in a helpful way so you don't take them into the bed at night.
Other than that, just simply time and repetition! take a look at this video here from the 6.00 mark: czcams.com/video/kfj4dWJal3o/video.html
So appreciate this content and will focus on this: my issue is a redundancy triggered sleep jerks and I can easily go to sleep but repeatedly wake up before sleep kicks in due to jerks and the more I worry about getting sleep the worse they get as I also have Mh issues so worry so much about impact next day. Any tips, so desperate!!
Hi, sorry I missed this the first time round - Hypnic jerks fall under the category of a parasomnia (sleep walking / eating, night terrors, sleep paralysis... all parasomnias)
You fix parasomnias the same way as you would insomnia by improving your sleep quality (which is what this entire channel is about!)
So out the same behaviours in place I outine on the channel and you'll see an improvement.
Video on hypnic jerks here!
czcams.com/video/qSUzxBFf-3Y/video.html
@@InsomniaTalks can you stop them being such an issue as mine calmed down by say 50% but we’re still nightly and then more stress and boom back again. Do you do one on one sessions as well?
❤
Hi, I’ve recently started CBTI and I’m about to have completed the first week of 12am-6am bedtime restriction. I always wake up between 5-5:30am though and I’m worried that if I start sleeping at 11:30pm I’ll just wake up at 4:30am. From your experience how do you know when it’s ok to extend the sleep window? My sleep efficiency is technically good I think (>=85%) but I’m still unsure whether I can extend the window.
Thank you so much btw, your videos have been very helpful.
Hi, so the sleep drive and body clock is not fixed and it can move to whatever time you set it to, based on the time you set your alarm in the morning.
If this were not the case, nobody would be able to move between time Zones.
So you'll find that if you stick to this window, unless you are a short sleeper who needs less than 6.5 hours sleep...
(you'll know if this is the case if you reflect back to when you were a good sleeper - assuming you once were and can remember - this doesn't apply if your insomnia started as a teen as sleep needs are longer for teenagers so you won't have a bench make if this is the case)
But yes assuming you have a rough idea of what your sleep needs are, and they are above 6.5 hours, your body will quickly realise if it wants to get the sleep it needs, it better get it by ensuring that you sleep right through to the alarm.
So I would say stick to this window until you find that the quality of sleep is improving and most nights you are sleeping through to the alarm.
That doesn't however mean until you never wake up pre alarm, it is normal to wake in the early hours (take a look at this video here: czcams.com/video/3DzIPSAlbEw/video.html)
So early morning awakenings are normal, not falling back to sleep again / getting angry and stressed etc is not.
So keep the window until you find that either you sleep through to the alarm, or until on the nights you do wake up pre alarm, you can fall back to sleep reasonably quickly and then can asleep through to the alarm.
After this you can extend.
From your comment I can sleep you are on a traditional CBTi programme where you measure sleep efficiency etc which is how you have come up with the 85% efficiency score.
In traditional CBTi it varies but anything above 80 - 90% is considered to be good efficiency and you extend your window after you reach this.
However, may work has moved away from this tracking and monitoring / sleep efficiency scores etc as I find that it can cause people to become too obsessive around sleep duration and cause hyper analysis of sleep which can feed the control and obsession around insomnia.
It can also encourage clock watching, and another problem is, it's complete guess work! how can people possibly know what time they fell asleep / how long they spent awake unless they are literally staring at the clock every 2 minutes!
My preference is the sleep window instead:
czcams.com/video/V_e3n2DBbjM/video.html (watch the video and then read the comments section where I outline how to do it)
This video here goes into more detail:
czcams.com/video/7E3OrrdnR5E/video.html
I've also switched up how to approach stimulus / counter control to make it more intuitive.
czcams.com/video/pJ8hkgJJAgE/video.html
So yes take a look at all of these. I'd say when it comes to CBTi it's important to know that there is no fixed standard when it comes to it.
My approach is very very different to a lot of CBTi out there - so have a think whether or not you prefer the more rigid approach of traditional CBTi (some people do!) or the softer alternative that my work encourages.
Hi doc your experience helps alot . I just want to ask that I'm a pro athlete n I'm going for a tournament abroad n i fear if i had sleepless night how would i be able to perform ? Please help me it's my job n I'm the feeding one of my family
Hi, I would highly encourage binge watching all my videos on this channel as they are all about how to take away the fear of not sleeping and normalising poor quality sleep. With this thought pattern change shift, you will find you sleep a lot better regardless of whether or not you are travelling / have an important event the next day.
Fight or flight / anxiety around insomnia is a huge component of it, so when this diminishes, you start sleeping.
Also, when you put the behavioural changes in place that I outline, not only do they physiologically re build your pattern of sleep but once they start to work and you have proven to yourself that you can sleep, a lot of the fear around it starts to come down.
I notice you have asked a few questions related to this - may I suggest getting the full programme which you'll find on my website sleepze.com. For the level of support and what I offer it's I feel not expensive and provides great value, it provides a week by week, step by step guide. It contains downloadable work books with written exercises to take away the obsession and fear around not sleeping (when the fear goes - you just sleep!)
It contains audiobooks, a support forum with unlimited support from the community where you can ask me / the group any questions you want.
You can also trial it for a month for free!
This isn't a hard sell, but it's difficult to help with the thought pattern changes in one message. It's a gradual process that requires lots of different steps over a number of weeks but i've created all of that in the programme. All the questions you have asked me here I have covered in lots of detail and provided solutions to.
If however money is a barrier, yes certainly binge watching all my free content will definitely help answer your questions as well, and after you have watched them you will have noticed a gradual shift in your thought patterns.
joe
Ive had previous sleep issues but the last 4 months i only get 1/2 hours sleep per night, sometimes falling asleep at 1am and always waking up at 2am, awake for 3 hours or more. Other times falling asleep at 4am/5am awake at 6am/7am am i broken?! I dont know if this is insomnia!? i am mentally and physically exhausted - constant headaches, body shakes from tiredness, was caused i think by ptsd, mental health/traumatic event, i feel ill. Feel like i will never sleep again. I dont know what to do,i have 24/7 anxiety, never feel relaxed its making me question my life
I also feel im too complex to be helped 😢
Hi, I would start with my playlist - New to the channel? start here! - www.youtube.com/@InsomniaTalks/playlists
And pay particular attention to this video:
czcams.com/video/EbAeCyOc0Fo/video.html
I would after that have a binge watch of the entire channel.
I also have a step-by-step guide on Amazon that has everything you need it's called 'Your 2 in 1 CBTi book' this will help you.
It’s sounds like a reborn .
100% - when you have insomnia it's not you. It's you with insomnia - and that is a very very different thing.
It's very helpful for people to understand it as it takes away a lot of the guilt attached to insomnia.
Guilt, shame, suffering, fear, anxiety, control, depression, OCD, limiting of your life so much until there is nothing left - but when you get through it, your life opens up again. There is hope
Thanks for your comment!