INSOMNIA: FINDING THE HELP YOU NEED

INSOMNIA: FINDING THE HELP YOU NEED
Linda K. DeVries
Wheaton, IL: Harold Shaw Publishers, 1998
168 pages, soft cover, $11.99
ISBN 0-87788-184-7

Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg

This book offers a nice overview of causes and treatment for disturbed sleep, with a subtext: the author reflects on what the Bible has to say about sleep difficulties, and incorporates prayer into her armamentarium of coping strategies. Like-minded persons may find that message comforting.

DeVries first describes the nature of sleep and changes that occur with age. She discusses reasons for and types of insomnia, suggesting a sleep journal as a useful first step in figuring out what's gone wrong.

In a chapter on changing your attitudes about sleeplessness, she urges readers not to try so hard to sleep, to learn to manage their fear of insomnia, to correct sleep misperceptions, and not to play the victim. Her writing is conversational and laced with personal anecdotes.

Her advice on lifestyle includes sleep hygiene advice that really works, if people actually do it instead of--as often happens--dismissing it as too humdrum. This advice: exercise, relax, take a warm bath, try a massage, watch your diet, cut out caffeine, avoid alcohol, don't smoke, regularize your schedule. She also urges insomniacs to do something for someone else. "When we turn our attention and energy outward and begin to practice acts of kindness toward other people," she says, "our own difficulties seem less overwhelming."

One of the more interesting chapters concerns supporting a sleepless spouse. "...You may be frustrated by your inability to "fix the problem.... Insomnia's effects spill over into the next day as moodiness, irritability, and difficulty coping with stress." Some fixes suggested are simple: a security system or dog for a person whose spouse often is on the road, for example. When one partner is a lark and the other an owl, or when partners have vastly different sleep needs, respect for the other's habits and preferences is required. The problem needs attention because one spouse's poor sleep often disrupts that of the partner, too.

The book concludes with advice on finding a sleep specialist and an introduction to the sleep laboratory. This is an easy to read and caring guide.