How to Fall Asleep Faster: CBT-Insomnia Treatment

If you were to ask someone, “What’s causing your insomnia?” they might say something like: “my stress, anxiety, my brain won’t shut off”, maybe they think it’s their cat waking them up or they drank too much coffee or they watched a scary movie before bed.
And granted, all of these things can mess with your sleep for a night or two, or more, but they aren’t the thing that causes chronic insomnia. In most cases chronic insomnia is caused by 1 bad habit where you accidentally trained your brain not to sleep.
Staying in bed awake.
This is the worst thing you can do for your insomnia.
And it’s the key to one of the most effective treatments for insomnia, CBT-I, an evidence based treatment for insomnia that has shown up to 80% effectiveness at relieving insomnia.
You see, when you lie in bed awake, maybe you went to bed too early, or you’re trying to force yourself to sleep, and worrying about all the things - what you said that day…what’s going to happen with your job…whether that one guy likes you…or any number of other things, you’re basically training your brain that the bed is the place for worrying and lying there awake.
So one aspect of the most effective treatment for insomnia is, if you can’t sleep, get out of bed. If you can’t sleep, and it’s been more than 15 minutes, get out of bed, do something that’s not too stimulating, and when you start to feel drowsy, go lay back down. Now I know this sounds miserable. You probably think “I’m going to be so tired” this will just make it worse! And yes, that’s true, you may be more tired in the short term. But, within a week or so, it’s most likely going to improve sleep efficiency, the percentage of time that you spend in bed actually sleeping.

So as you retrain your brain, you’ll fall asleep faster, you’ll stay asleep longer, and you’ll spend less time lying awake getting angry that you’re not sleeping.
Again, this is a core principle of CBT-I, it literally rewires the brain to sleep better. They have imaging studies showing that after CBT-I, people have improved cognitive functioning, decreased stress, and improved memory. And most importantly, you sleep better.

Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, 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.
In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction.

Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

[riveteye]

I had stuggled with PTSD, anxiety and insomnia for the last 7 years, which culminated with almost a month of sleeping for 4 hours a night this november. But after struggling with sleep for years I finally learned what my body and my mind needs to sleep well.
Started with simple CBT meditation, breathing excersice (fire breath is amazing for anxiety and insomnia) and walking in the morning in sunlight, then progressed to biking all day in the sun, intermittent fasting(OMAD) and cutting out some foods that I ate all my life, like milk. No more chronic inflammation, depression, no more lying in bed for hours with half of my brain shutting off and the other wide awake.
If anyone is struggling with sleep know this - I lost hope I'll ever be functional again, but kept on trying just out of spite, and somehow I'm better than ever. Some damage was done, but physically I'm in the best shape of my life and growing every day. So don't loose hope, life can be weird like that.

[lanaj]

I was told to do this 15 years ago at a sleep clinic. It also helps to get up and write down all the things you're worried about doing/accomplishing in the next few days if that's what you're thinking about. Somehow, putting these thoughts down on paper seems to download the thoughts.

[sanatsrivastava]

Okay, I think what works is really accepting a few things.

You need to accept your fear that you may or may not sleep tonight. And that it's alright. It's alright to wonder all throughout the evening that you might not sleep and have other fears about health and what not.
Accept that fear. It's just a thought and accept it to be what it is. Don't judge that thought or dislike it (it takes time) but just acceptance helps a lot.

Secondly, there's a gigantic myth that you need to sleep 7-9 hours. That you absolutely HAVE to. People in the functional world are working with 4 or 5 or 6 hours of sleep, doctors don't get to sleep for days, so no. Don't stress about your health.

I also think that just understanding that you're resting on the bed for a good while is good too. Sleep is not the only way to rest. Rest is a great way to rest too.

Cheers and don't worry. It happens to a lot of us. Just breathe and accept it, keep living.

[KarlWitsman]

I found this same answer when I was studying psychology in school. Tried it and it really helps. Tossing and turning only makes you more miserable too. Another tip is to ignore the folks who say that you absolutely MUST have 8 hours of sleep. Not everyone does. You probably need more than 5, but the quality of the sleep seems to be more important to me. But lying there worrying about not getting 8 hours will not help anyone.

[dflosounds]

I've been working on this technique recently and I definitely see improvement in my sleep. For all my fellow insomniacs out there who want to try this, remember that things will get worse before they get better. Like she says in the video, you need to stick with it! It's going to feel completely counter-intuitive at first, but that's the point! Retraining our brains requires us to do things that make little sense to us, because doing what "makes sense" is what got us into this mess in the first place 😂

[birdgirl]

I have had disabling insomnia my entire life. I'm 63 years old and have tried everything. Good and bad. From Ambien (bad) to yoga (good) none of them cured my insomnia. I practiced such good sleep hygiene it became so rigid it was a hinderance to other parts of my life. And worse, it didn't help! Finally after 6 sleep studies a renowned sleep expert out of UCLA explained that... this is just the way I am wired. That back when we used to live in caves people such as myself were valued because we could stay up all night and keep watch. He reframed my insomnia from a disability to a special skill. So, instead of giving me more meds to have me conform to society, he suggested that I try and work from home, so I could work on my own schedule... and my productivity soared and my shame is gone. I also sought out a sleep hypnotist to help me get over my fear... "If I don't fall asleep I will fail at work and let everyone down and then the world will end..." Now, I am still tired a lot I still don't fall asleep until 2am. But I now get that this is just me and not something to be corrected. I realize that a lot of folks aren't afforded the luxury of working from home, but maybe there's a way for you to go into work later? Or maybe yoga, sleep hypnosis and sleep hygiene will work for you. I sure hope it does. I feel your pain fellow insomniacs. (hugs)

[kathrynanne]

This is really good advice, take it from an insomniac of several years. Recently, following this tip has stopped the spiral cycle. I still occasionally suffer from insomnia, and probably always will, but doing this stops the problem from getting out of control and going on a steep downward spiral. Getting out of bed when I can’t sleep has to be one of the hardest things I’ve had to learn to do to help my insomnia. Every instinct in my head goes against it. But just do it, it’ll help you get your problem under control in weeks, instead of years like me! Lol.

[thatchapthere]

I've had chronic insomnia for the last few months and really needed this. It never occurred to me to try this since I thought making myself lay in bed would make my brain get the idea eventually!
It's a relief to know that the opposite is true, and there's hope yet.

[SusanaGomez-mpsk]

I started suffered insomnia since my teenage, was actually diagnosed with cptsd. Spent my whole life fighting cptsd. Also suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Not until my son recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms.

[MajesticFella]

I literally woke up with my insomnia and was getting a drink and THIS idea was in my feed. THANK YOU 🙏🏻

[sweetjane]

Sleep apnea is also a major cause of insomnia. My doctors resisted this explanation, even after I had a heart attack that couldn't really be explained by any other cause. They didn't want me to go for a test and kept telling me I had anxiety. Sure enough, I had severe sleep apnea. I'm lucky I survived.

[Brittwhales]

I used to have very “bad” insomnia where I’d randomly wake up every night. I’d get up, make some tea, and usually write or think because that’s what my brain wanted to do. This was the most creative time for me, and the only alone time I got. Now, I have a little one who has constant sleep regressions, and the insomnia really does pose a problem when I’ve rarely slept in the past week... or month... or year. I found with this circumstance it is really key to comfort myself, redirect my thoughts to how good it feels with my head lying on my pillow and my back actually lying in a bed instead of a rocking chair, to feel the coolness of my fan and the warmth of my blanket... this insomnia seems to call for more comforting thoughts and observations of how good it feels to go to sleep rather than getting up and waking the baby once more. Good luck to all you parents of little ones out there!!!

[yessumify]

I wake up through the night lately with my heart RACING. I'm thankful to find this video

[lauralyndiana]

This worked for me, thank you! When the explanation of the brain getting into a wrong pattern was said, I knew that was what happened to me, I had one night of not being able to fall asleep and stay asleep and it continued. I've been using other CBT methods recommended by a councellor as well.
It took 3 nights, but I stuck with it and the 3rd night I fell asleep on my own at a good time and slept through the night!

[philipgermani]

How timely. I did this just last night and it worked well. Got up for an hour or so, went back to bed and fell asleep right away.

[aamnahere]

I think another advise could be to begin some form of exercise. Exercise does help us sleep well. Interestingly, setting a 10 to 15 minute restorative yoga routine before bed instantly calms the mind as well as the nervous system. It also helps a lot with the quality of sleep.

[wobbelll]

This is what im going thru right now, im realy tired, im afraid to go to bed. This helps, thank you

[GeryNH]

Had to pause, not even halfway through, and my mind is BLOWN AWAY!! I can already tell this video will be a life saver

[TheCoveredBeauty]

Thank you for this.. I’ve been in bed for 6 hours trying to sleep. Getting up now🖤

[Morrighanangel]

Im watching this at 4 am while sitting on my bean bag chair after being awake for 3 hours. Ive done the dishes, cleaned my makeup brush, made a protein shake. Will probably be up the rest of the day now. Might as well do some work 🤷🏽‍♀️