Review: :60 second Sleep-Ease

:60 SECOND SLEEP-EASE:
QUICK TIPS TO GET A GOOD NIGHT'S REST

Shawn Currie, PhD, and Keith Wilson, PhD

Far Hills, NJ: New Horizon Press, 2002
176 pages, paperback, $13.95
ISBN: 0-88282-212-8

Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg

The catchy title may lure some readers, even those who suspect it's merely a come-on. The authors claim people can learn techniques for improving sleep in 60 seconds. Learn about, maybe. Applying these techniques takes many weeks, as even the authors concede.

That said, this book offers a compendium of behaviorally based tactics that can help you break bad sleep habits and master good ones. The authors are Canadian psychologists who help people manage long-standing problems, including insomnia and pain.

Most people who sleep poorly have tried both medications and numerous other sleep aids to inducing sleep: alcohol, avoiding caffeine, drinking warm milk at bedtime, and more. Some of these tactics may have worked for a time but failed to help consistently. Openness to new approaches is a plus, Currie and Wilson say. Trial and error experimentation may help you get the most out of the panoply of possibilities their book offers. Combining several strategies may prove more effective than relying on a single method.

Each chapter in this book lists learning goals and the rationale for exploring a particular topic. To start, take a sleep self-assessment quiz to identify your problem areas. Later, learn how to keep a nightly sleep log to track progress as you try new tactics. You'll find examples of progress charts, as well as blank ones to complete.

You'll then focus on improving your bedtime routine, with step-by-step instructions for several tactics that sleep laboratory studies show can help. You might try restricting your time in bed, for example. Though that may sound like the last thing an insomniac needs, sleep restriction consolidates sleep, enabling insomniacs ultimately to sleep longer without interruptions.

You'll learn here how to utilize stimuli that promote sleep, and how to avoid those that sabotage it. Get up at the same time in the morning, regardless of how long you sleep, for instance. That programs your body clock to anticipate sleep at a certain time of day and helps establish a strong sleep/wake schedule. Turn the bedside clock around when you go to sleep. That curbs obsessing about the time if you awaken in the dark.

If you're using sleeping pills now, you'll find advice on how to work with your doctor to wean yourself off. The authors say medications can help short term sleep problems but aren't appropriate for every night use.

They also offer some nice imagery exercises. Imagine, for example, that you're standing next to a swiftly running stream. Take the worries that bob into your mind at bedtime and envision them as objects floating in the stream. Let the water whisk them away. Practice this type of imagery at bedtime every night. By creating a scene in which you feel the breeze, hear the rushing water, smell the fresh air, and use as many of your senses as possible, you promote active relaxation that can help induce sleep.

The authors also include tips for combating negative self-talk that hinders sleep. They tell how to tackle specific sleep problems, such as staying up late to watch TV. As a bonus, they encourage readers to brainstorm humorous, if wildly unrealistic, solutions. The new ideas may help you devise tactics you can put to work.

With its jargon-free conversational style, this book offers insomniacs a fast-paced and practical guide.