Struggling with Insomnia? A Simple Technique That Can Help
Struggling to fall asleep or waking in the early hours, unable to drift off again? Insomnia is a common and frustrating experience for many Australians. In this blog, Dr Dana Phang shares a simple, practical sleep hygiene technique that can make a real difference in retraining your brain for better sleep.
After a long day at work, you come home to chores, get dinner ready and the kids fed and off to bed. You then crash into bed only to find yourself tossing and turning for hours before nodding off or snapping awake again at 2am and unable to fall back asleep. You then try meditation, or you drink some herbal tea. You make sure you’re putting away your phone or laptop at least an hour before bed. But nothing seems to work! The moment your head hits the pillow, your mind races about things that have happened during the day or the list of tasks that need to be done for tomorrow, etc.
Insomnia (difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep) is unfortunately a very common issue, and in some cases a chronic one, among Australians. Luckily, there is a sleep hygiene technique that most are not aware of but can be game changer when it comes to managing insomnia. It’s the 20-minute rule – if you estimate that 20 minutes have passed since you have climbed into bed and you’re not yet asleep, please don’t stay in bed! Get up and out of the bedroom. You may rest in the living room/kitchen/study with your herbal tea/meditation soundtrack/book and return to your bed when you feel sleepy or tired again. Spending hours tossing and turning in bed will inadvertently reinforce the message to your brain that you will have a tough time falling asleep every night.
When we follow the 20-minute rule, we are teaching our brains that when our head hits the pillow, it’s sleep time. Therefore, it is also important to avoid doing other activities in bed aside from sleep or sex. With these sleep hygiene techniques in place, it often gets easier and easier to fall asleep over time. Please consult your GP if you are still experiencing insomnia despite trying this technique. There may be an underlying comorbid medical condition driving your insomnia that needs to be addressed, or you may require further treatment with sleep medication.