Insomnia is a pernicious experience & can have a huge impact on our health and happiness. The Mental Health Foundation have made a big splash of it this year (Sleep Matters), with the hope of waking up policy-makers and fund-distributors to the importance of healthy sleep habits. Good sleep is as important as good food and good exercise. Drifting off to sleep successfully (firstly into the crazy hypnogic phase), means a dampening down of cognitive arousal (busy mind) – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is good for this (see here for more).
However, often sleep problems arise from other things that need addressing separately – physical or emotional pain (such as depression) and bad habits (working at a screen late, lying in bed too long, drinking Red Bull at midnight…) There’s a wealth of intelligent and useful sleep information out there, so I have tried to pull together some of the most useful:
- Sleepio Co-founded by world sleep expert Professor Colin Espie, Sleepio is dedicated to helping people sleep better. His book Overcoming Insomnia and Sleep Problems. A self-help guide using Cognitive Behavioral Techniques is excellent.
- London Sleep Clinic’s videos Here the Clinic’s sleep experts talk about common sleep complaints & how to treat them. Some myths dispelled too. Chris Idzikowski is one of the experts, and we’d recommend his: Beating Insomnia. How to get a good night’s sleep. (Includes a relaxation CD)
- Glasgow Sleep Centre Useful information & research.
- Harvard Med School’s Sleep site A US website with case-studies.
Please let me know if you find anything else that has helped.