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When thoughts race through your mind
at bedtime and your muscles feel tense, it's hard to fall asleep. Insomnia plagued Lee Firestone for years, he reports in the introduction to his self-published book. "It got to the point where I couldn't
concentrate on my work," he relates. "I tried everything from pills
to doctors. Nothing worked."
"Nothing worked" is a claim sleep specialists often hear. Many of these
complaints, they say, stem from the "Yes, but...." Syndrome. "Get up
at the same time every day," the sleep specialist advises. "Yes, but
I'm so tired I need to sleep late on my days off," the insomniac insists.
"Don't watch television in bed," the expert counsels. "Yes, but I love
the late show," a patient will say. "Don't drink caffeine in the evening,"
the doctor suggests. "Yes, but dinner isn't complete without coffee,"
the patient asserts.
Like advice to exercise every day, cut back on dietary fat, and floss
teeth, most of us find it hard to consistently keep regular hours and
follow other commonsense rules of sleep hygiene. We know what we should
do, but attractions or demands of the moment often get in the way.
Surveys show that one in three Americans reports having insomnia, and
one in six says poor sleep troubles them most nights or every night.
For some, the discovery that diligently following good sleep habits
really helps comes as an epiphany. Firestone is among them.
In 36 pages, some containing only a few words, he provides a step-by-step
plan aimed at eradicating two symptoms: non-stop mental activity at
bedtime and muscle tension.
For the former, he suggests "thought-passing." This involves sitting
quietly, taking regular deep breaths, counting on each exhalation. "If
a thought enters your mind, let it pass through," he advises. If you
remember something you need to do, jot it down, so you don't get stuck
trying to hold onto it. To ease physical stress, he advises breathing
exercises, learning to tense and then relax various muscle groups, and
massage.
In a similar book, Desperately
Seeking Snoozin', John Wiedman turned to the Internet, using
comments troubled sleepers posted to online sleep support groups to
tell his story.
Your grandmother--and your doctor--might give you the same advice as
these two authors. But sometimes you have to hear a fellow insomniac
say it before you listen.
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