What is Insomnia and How to Cure it with Cognitive Behavior Therapy 

I’m learning to accept my insomnia rather than fight it, I’m so grateful for this information as I am recovering from the misuse of psychotropic medications including a long use of zolpidem (AMBIAN) I’d rather incorporate these tools and take the initiative to sleep better with my mind and body. Thank you for this information.

Sleep deprivation is absolutely horrible, it's exhausting just trying to stay awake for a full day when you have

Thank You So much ...its very helpful....Most common and Major reason of insomnia = FEAR of Sleeplessness .. Its just the fear...(if there is no other health issue) this fear will go away with the passage of time..... All we need to do is stop thinking about our sleep ... this is what helped me ... i avoid medicines /pills as much as i can.... and its very hard for me to sleep... in weekends i try to sleep without any pills and if i get some sleep, thats very relaxing for me and it convinces me that i dont have to depend on drugs.... thanks you again

It's been 3 years since I've recovered from anxiety and panic attacks because of insomnia, I've watched your videos countless of times.. I just want you to know you've helped me alot and thank you, wish you all the best things

Glad to hear that you aren't wasting any time getting your sleep back on track! Hope you sleeping well again soon.

I really wish she was my therapist. So comforting and understanding.

Dr Korol, I cannot thank you enough for taking the time to put these videos online. I have problems with sleeping and last night was onto my fourth night of no sleep for this round. I feel asleep listening to this clip because your advice was easy to understand and very do-able I was able to start to calm down. Finding a doctor who could help me was also stressing me out. Thank you Thank you Thank you.

I dunno if I am depressed or stressed, but when I can't sleep it's because I cannot stop thinking about whatever, Angkor Wat, witches, Carl Sagan, lumber, satin boxing robes, etymology, the Bolshoi Theater, the Ryukyu Islands, cyborg horses, cuneiform, the Gaza Surf Club, lemurs, Santa Clause, pizza delivery as an Olympic sport, dowsing, ravers, mice etc!!!!

I had CbT twice, plus CbT I, which didnt help me, as keeping a sleep diary ie noting down time i was awake, made me worse. Now its extremely serious, as nothing helps, except sleeping tablets,which now dont really work now either. I am now desperate, going on none plus not even a nap in day. I get sleepy before I go to bed, but now its ingrained in my sub- conscious that bed means being awake and stressed.

Thank you Christine, you covered an awful lot in this video and I am going to put it into practice straight away. I'm a big advocate of going to bed early to try and catch up on missed sleep. That's going to stop!

wow... I'm glad I stumble on this video... very helpful... appreciate your sharing...God bless you

christine thank you so much for this video. thank you.

Thanks so much for this video! I'd never heard of CBT for insomnia before I saw this, and my sleep was so bad that I thought I had no other options besides sleeping pills or taking pills for my anxiety. This is my second week using the techniques in this video, and my sleep is gradually improving (I used to total only 2-3 hours of really broken, light sleep, but now I can sleep deeply for four hours straight, then I wake up and usually fall asleep again within 30 minutes or so. I still have some bad nights, but at least I also have some pretty good nights now). I do need to be stricter with myself about the sleep restriction, because that has been the most helpful part for me as well. I've set up an appointment with a sleep doctor so that someone can monitor my use of sleep restriction and give me individual help, and I've bought a workbook on CBT for insomnia to better deal with my sleep anxiety. Anyways, you have no idea how important this video was for me, as well as your other videos about managing anxiety. Thanks so much!!

You make so much sense. I'm trying these methods and I seem to be improving so I'm hoping it will continue. Thank you.

Hi Christine, I responded to the videos you posted on insomnia, and I actually went over to a sleep center for my problems quite recently. I have early morning insomnia because of a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Not fun. Hope others liked your videos because I did.

I've been struggling falling asleep for days, it's only making my depression worse. I'm going to try my best to follow these steps and hope the best. Thank you

GREAT Thank you and I have no words to express my gratitude! You are awesome, I prayed to God for help and then I found you ! God bless you! You are kind, patient, and willing to share your great knowledge and experience!

It's always a good idea to see your doctor to get the underlying problem properly assessed and rule out anything physical disrupting your sleep. My own sleep recently improved immensely when I cut out caffeine entirely (and I was only having 1/2 cup of coffee in the morning). No more coffee for me...small price to pay for good sleep! Work with your doctor or naturopath to get your body in balance - then come back to this video and/or get a referral to a sleep specialist if you still can't sleep.

You're very welcome. I'm so glad that you found the information helpful. :-)

Hey! I am studing to become an integrative psychotherapist and I found this video very useful with the drawings and everything. Thank you very much! :D

Thank you so much, Christine, for your informative and insightful video. I've struggled with insomnia since childhood, but for various reasons I never sought out treatment for it until recently (and by "recently" I mean the last five years). I was scheduled to start sleep restriction therapy today, but due to my difficult financial situation (and other factors beyond my control) my psychiatrist is reluctant to start the treatment. So it's postponed indefinitely, until (or rather if) my situation stabilizes. But I find great inspiration in your video, and have bookmarked it for future reference. Thank you!

Dear Christine, You did a great job of covering this issue. Very thorough. You may want to think about getting a microphone to improve the sound on your next video. A first class presentation deserves first class sound. Regards

Every time I ran a CBT-I group, everyone dreaded the sleep restriction. I'd ask them to humor me & try it even if they were skeptical. I always polled everyone at the end of the groups what they believed helped their sleep the most and hands down it was the sleep restriction procedure. It's a little (well, sometimes more than a little) pain for a BIG payoff!!! Also, remember that with sleep restriction, you should be sleeping as much as you're sleeping on average now-it's just shifted a little.

I like how you said theres two groups of ppl, thats interesting because it reminded me of when I was a child and I shared a room with my younger brother- I'd get frustrated that he'd fall asleep so quickly and I'd be lying awake- so I guesss this has been throughout my life. It's off and on for me, I've been trying everything- especially watching what I eat. Because I often have my stomach gurgling and keeping me awake, and your gut is your second brain, so if that wont shut off, neither will the one upstairs. Food combining research has helped a little, for example not combining proteins and carbs because one takes acid, the other alkaline to digest... etc., it's helped a bit, noticed that when I do combine meats and carbs I cant sleep well. Cereal and milk has helped a bit too before bed. As for supplements and drugs, tried most everything, Melatonin helped a bit, feel like GABA had an opposite effect for me as well as L-Theanine,... it's weird, because for example smoking marijuana gives me insomnia, my brain wont shut off and the majority of ppl smoke to help them sleep. I've been prescribed Trazadone and yeah it works to an extent if I take it early enough, but I dont feel it gives me a deep REM restorative sleep- and it also makes my muscles sore/achey body... I also think a lot of the issue is the enormous amount of EMF's in my apartment, I can pick up 20 WiFi signals from my room- all full strength. However, I do sleep well some times and not others so maybe its not that. I think its more mental than anything... and a mixture of diet. I will try writing things down and make action items for those worries. Thats a good suggestion.

Night shift is ruining my health and I’m doing most of these suggestions already but day sleeping is very difficult. When I was younger no problem, now over 60 it is horrible. I will look up more of your videos and try things I have not done yet. Thank you

Excellent video. This has helped me a ton in the past few weeks overcome some accute insomnia I was suffering from. Sleep reduction was definitely some magic and your explanation helped me not be so stressed about it

Excellent video! Brilliantly summarized. Thank you and God bless.

Thank you so much. I tried those techniques for others during this Covid-19 days! Unfortunately it is haunting me too, as you told. Successful indeed

Thank your for sharing this information. I have so many health issues you can't shake a stick at all of them. 70% of my heart is dead so I have to rest a lot on and off during the day. I have also had 6 spinal surgeries so I have chronic pain. And I need to have both of my shoulder joints replaced due to arthritis damage, so more pain. Meditation work so well for many years, but now it just doesn't do the trick now. I may be too far gone for this to help me.

I've suffered from chronic insomnia for the past 25 years. My mind doesn't race and I don't suffer from anxiety and depression.

I've been dealing with early morning insomnia for a little over a month, and I really liked your video. I fall asleep easily, but I struggle with staying asleep. I start CBTI in a few weeks.

WOW thank you so much for sharing all this information. I've been dealing with insomnia since I was 6 years old and I really want to try this.

Thank you for being so thorough. Finally someone who speaks from experience and cares

I'm so glad you found this helpful! Whether it's been a month or years - cognitive therapy for insomnia is great for getting your sleep back on track. Thanks for sharing your story and encouraging others to try out the strategies.

You're so very welcome. I'm glad that you found the video helpful.

I appreciate your teaching style - clear, comprehensive yet concise. Very good information. Thank you for making this video.

Is it just me or do doctors and nurses voices sound really nice. They just have that motherly tone of caring and calmness, I like it. lol

Excellent and super useful video! A pity i didn't discover it 7 years ago.

How are you supposed to keep a sleep diary if you're not allowed to look at the clock?

The thing about teens needing to go to bed at a certain time or the will miss their window to fall asleep gave me an instant flashback to being a teen, I remember getting mad at my mom because she made me do something right as I was getting ready to go to bed and sure enough I missed my window and was awake half the night

That is so cool. I'm glad I went to the sleep center when I did. They told me that if I had waited any longer, it may have turned chronic. They think my insomnia is short-term, but they want to see my sleep diary. My sister thinks I don't have enough melatonin in my system at night.

Ah! I think you're talking about the dreaded hypnic jerk! The first line recommendations are to watch your caffeine, stress and anxiety and don't exercise too late in the evening. People are often told to start by practicing good sleep hygiene (as described in this video) and meditation can also be helpful. If it persists, of course, you should see your doctor.

Thank You! It is a wonderful thing you do for others. I hope your life is full of love and success, oh yeah and lots of sleep.

Hi, I am one that has watched her video too, and I'm dealing with Advanced sleep phase disorder, which is the same thing. Your going to want to get bright blue light in the evening to delay sleep onset, and avoid it in the morning. If you're content in keeping the early schedule, you go to sleep at six, and awaken when your internal clock wakes you. I have a 6:00 Pm, to 2:30 AM sleep schedule. Retiring to bed later than 6:00, results in sleep depravation. I'll still wake at 2:30 no matter what

my left ear enjoyed this

I first experienced insomnia around 2017 when I would lie awake in bed feeling sad struggling with depression and anxiety, also being hurt over things I should have brushed off. It came back in 2020 more seriously from too much eye strain with the iPhone blue light and from smoking weed too often. I wish I knew then that smoking doesn't help you sleep and does the opposite. It got more serious in 2021 when I couldn't fall asleep at all. Living in a toxic home with a parent that was always screaming and yelling on a regular basis, my anxiety got way worse and I had an anxiety attack for the first time ever on thanksgiving. I hadn't slept in 2 days and my dad wouldn't stop yelling at me over really stupid and small things. I had gotten up again to make some tea so I could try to sleep and he was yelling at me again in the kitchen. When I tried to lay down I noticed my head and chest both had this strange pain that never happened before and I started freaking out believing I was going to have a heart attack. My dad and sister both didn't care or take me seriously and refused to give me a ride to the hospital. I called an ambulance but a friend told me it was 1,000 even though I had insurance so I freaked out and canceled it. Not knowing if I was going to die or not in that moment, I focused on my breathing and drove myself to the hospital. Everything felt so scary and once I got checked in I came to the realization I had an anxiety attack. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and insomnia and the doctor and psych at the hospital both instructed me to stop smoking. I was smoking 2-3 times a day for the past 2 years, and would stop maybe a couple weeks or a month and start again. I never once felt addicted or like I couldn't live without it but my blood test said I was dependent because of how often I was smoking. I never smoked cigs btw. Im on my first month since I've quit weed and my life honestly feels no different. I still can't fall asleep with the medicine Im on rn called seraquil, the equate version is called quetapine. I am on a current journey of figuring out what works for me naturally and beating insomnia and hope the same happens for you guys (:

Thanks ! Will give a go tonight. I noticed I put myself to bed too early thinking it’s gonna put me out faster but just end up getting frustrated

Christine, What happens if I'm falling asleep at 9 or 10p.m., and waking up at 12 or 1a.m., now with chronic insomnia ? If I can't fall back to sleep, I usually go to the living room, hop into my recliner and play a " talk down " youtube meditation app and try falling back to sleep that way. Should I be reading a book instead ? And also, should I be going to bed at 1a.m., even though I might lose those 2 hours of sleep ? (My wake up time is 6a.m., for work, and I keep it on weekends the same). Thanks. Much appreciated !

I'm so glad to hear that you got some answers from the sleep clinic. I'm sure that they gave you some good strategies for your situation. I struggle with a circadian rhythm issue myself - more delayed sleep phase though. My best writing is done in the middle of the night :-) I know I'll never be a perfect sleeper - but if I follow my own recommendations I'm a much better sleeper. Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope it encourages others to get checked out at their local sleep clinic too.

This seems great but what confuses me here is how can I track when do I fall asleep if I want to avoid looking at the clock? Even looking at the clock I can't be sure if it was 15min or 45min from the time I went to bed and actually fallen asleep.

Thank you for this educational video on insomnia. I have been really struggling with it lately Watching your video gave me hope and inspiration to overcome my insomnia.

I'm so glad you enjoyed the video! You should be well prepared for your CBT-I program after watching it (it's a condensed version of the CBT-I program I taught when I worked in a hospital). CBT-I can work well for sleep maintenance insomnia (waking up too early) as well as sleep onset insomnia. I hope you enjoy your course! It's always ideal when you can get individual feedback from a therapist in addition to your self-help program.

All you can do is make your best guess and estimate when you were up. I usually suggested keeping the sleep diary on your nightstand and filling it in when you get up in the morning. There are also sleep watches out there that will record your movement at night and keep the sleep diary for you. I haven't tried any of the ones out there so I don't have any specific recommendations though.

Depression and anxiety often disrupt sleep and CBT for Insomnia can be a good thing to do in addition to treatment for those concerns. I do love the book Quiet Your Mind and Get to Sleep: Solutions to Insomnia for those with Depression, Anxiety or Chronic Pain by Carney & Manber. They describe how to integrate CBT-I with treatments for these conditions. A good cognitive therapist can also help you as well.

Your videos are amazing. PLEASE COME BACK! 💚

You are a very positive and caring person. Thank you for this video. I learn differently than most people, and this video really helped me understand some concepts.

This is fabulous! Thank you!

Thanks for this, this is a very helpful video. I don't suffer from sleep problems myself but I study psychology and have a course on sleep so this made a very useful procrastination and I learnt something new. Thanks :)

Thank you Christine! I took notes throughout the video. 🙂

I'm glad you enjoyed it & thanks for spreading the word!

Stress and caffeine can affect your sleep and a sleepless night can make you achey. Before taking any medication for sleep it's a good idea to talk to your family doctor. Everybody has the odd sleepless night but if it persists you should get assessed. Taking over the counter meds might help you fall asleep - but some affect sleep quality and you wake up feeling tired anyway. Always talk to your doctor rather than self-medicating to make sure you're taking the right med at the right dose.

That's a very good question! The techniques in this video should help new parents make the most of the sleep that they can get and the section on thoughts about sleep can help you cope with the fatigue. The first thing to work on is your baby's sleep schedule to try and get your wee one sleeping as long as possible at night. My favorite book on the infant sleep is Sleeping Through the Night by Jodi Mindell.

That's so awesome!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and let me know that the video class was helpful. I do love CBT for insomnia - it's a bit of effort in the beginning but it really does work better than anything else out there to get you sleeping again. Congratulations on getting your sleep back on track (and enjoy your bed)!

Great. yu explained it well. I am happy to attend your lecture. I am trying my best to inform my sleep. Thanks for help. Love you, You are a beautiful speaker and have good control of how to explain the points smoothly. I am in love the way you explained

Excellent! Thank you for making and posting this!!

This pairs well with the mindfulness workbook "The Days to Reduce Depression" by Harper Daniels.

Thank you for this!!! I feel less alone and more powerful 🙏

wonderful presentation loaded with valuable information. thank you!

Very good question! I just tell my patients to make their best guess because you are right when you say that you don't want to stare at the clock. If you're close to getting your times right, you should be able to come up with a good sleep schedule. There are also sleep watches that are like the actigraph monitors used in sleep studies. They can tell when you're sleeping by how much your moving and save the data to a computer. I haven't tried them though so I can't recommend a particular brand.

I'm so glad I found this video. I tend to get a bad bout of insomnia every so often and I always get very freaked out that it will be as bad as the first time it happened for over a month, when I actually went and got diagnosed with anxiety initially. I had 2 fully sleepless nights this week and took hours upon hours to get to sleep every other night. I tried my hand at sleep restriction last night and didn't go to bed until I was literally nodding off on the couch (after reading for several hours instead of being on the computer) and I fell asleep nearly instantly when I did finally lay down. Even though that's a sign of how sleep deprived I was, it was such a relief.

Hi - I did see the other comment and you can have a peek below. To answer you're other question - the approach you describe is like an abbreviated sleep restriction procedure that many doctors and psychologists recommend and perfectly acceptable. As you found out a few years ago, it works quite well :-) Thanks for your question - I should have remembered to talk about the abbreviated procedure in the video! I'll make a note for the next one!!

I hope I will too. I'm visually impaired, and I do well if I am able to function. Going 2 days without good quality sleep almost costed my life. I almost got killed crossing a street because I couldn't concentrate on what the trafic was doing. So when I'm told by others I know that they don't need a lot of sleep I tell them otherwise.

Hi Christine, I was just wondering how you can tell when insomnia becomes a problem. I'm a grad student, and I've been taking Zoloft for 5 weeks now to help with panic disorder, which I've been experiencing since September. I started at 25mg and have built my way up to 100mg, which I've been on for about 2 weeks now. I've also been learning and practicing CBT with a psychologist ever since I started feeling this way 5 months ago. I've really seen progress with the CBT, and I'm now able to manage my panic and anxiety quite well (I haven't had a panic attack for almost 2 months). But ever since I started taking Zoloft, I wasn't sleeping as much (about 5-6 hours, instead of my usual 7-8). I know that one of its side effects is difficulty sleeping, and I've understood that 5-6 hours isn't that bad. I'm still able to function, I don't feel tired during the day, and it's usually uninterrupted sleep. But over the last week, I've been getting even less sleep (about 3-4 hours) each night. I have no problem getting to sleep, but I wake up much earlier then I usually do, and can't go back to sleep. I've tried meditation, hypnosis/mindfulness exercises, reading, etc. but it doesn't seem to help. Over the last few days I've tried using the CBT-I approaches that you talk about in your video (especially with stimulus control. If I can't sleep for more than 20 mins, I'll get up, and do something else until I start feeling sleepy again). But I'm not sure if I should be concerned about this, as it's only been happening for about a week. I definitely feel more tired during the day, but I'm still able to function. I don’t take naps, I don’t drink any caffeine or alcohol, I exercise fairly regularly (3 times a week), I have a balanced diet. What do you think?

My insomnia started to years back and the situation get worst and worst by day that i don't get to sleep for upto 72 hours (3 days) and counting

I record the videos using Screenflow and I draw on a Cintiq using Sketchbook Pro.

You're such a lovely human

Thank you for this video. I've been a poor sleeper since I was a child. Your sleep restriction suggestion has been Godsend. I'm not sure why, in all the years I've been getting treatment for insomnia that no one ever told me about it. I have the type of insomnia where I wake up at 2 or 3 am and can't fall back to sleep until it's time to wake up at 6 am for work. The only problem I've discovered with sleep restriction is that I'm stuck at the 11 pm bed time. If I try to "walk it back" by even fifteen minutes, I will wake up at 3 am again. I was hoping to have it wake me up at 5 instead of 6 because of day light savings time. Do you have any ideas as to why such a small change in bed time is making drastic difference in the wake up time? I am under a doctor's care, and I'm not asking for advice, just a possible reason why changing my sleep schedule a teeny tiny bit is impacting my wake up time by hours. Again, thank you!

Thank you very much, Doctor Korol.

This presentation was so well done- thank you!

great video carol.. an excellent description of cognitive behavioural intervention for insomnia.. will be recommending this to friends of mine.. thank you for taking the time to put this together and publicly post it.. good karma to you!!

Starbucks, who you're referring to... I think I read that their coffee has more caffeine than taking No-Doz caffeine pills. As far as caffeine sensitivity, almost all decaf coffee out there it's terrible, however if you are lucky enough that your Starbucks has a Clover Machine, like some of them do in Chicago, then you can get a pretty damn close substitute as far as flavor with their Sumatra Decaf. Some places, mainly the indi places, can make a nice decaf Americano but you gotta kinda tell them what you like so they know to make it strong. Starbucks can't do a good decaf Americano because of their Auto-shot machines.

Mam plz help me I have severe insominia from 2015.now my age is 28yr ..I take all sleep medicine like lorezepam, zolpiderm, clonazepam, mitazapine, essitopam, quantipam,..but now I so addicted to these 💊. I feel guilty for taking these sleeping pill. Mam plz save me ..

The sleep time starting around 35 minutes into this video, won't the fact that you have to keep looking at the clock to determine the time after first going to bed increase stress and keep you awake longer?

You're very welcome!

This is actually a complex question. Most people ask for help when they subjectively feel they are not getting enough sleep. Your doctor or a sleep expert will want to sort out whether you have primary insomnia or your insomnia is secondary to another medical condition. I don't have room here to write the lengthy response your question deserves but check out the National Sleep Foundations website for some great info (sorry, youtube won't let me post the link).

I think that's good though. I sleep on average about 7 hours with my early morning insomnia, but my body does better on 8. I read someware about how you can figure out just how efficient your sleep is, and I thought that was really neat. You divide the hours that you actually spent asleep with the hours that you need. I tried it, and my result was around 75 percent.

Thank you so much for this, it's really appreciated

thanks for this video, I've been having sleeping problems for a month now and this video helped alot, just wish i found this sooner *lol*

I describe it in detail at the 33:30 mark, but you basically keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks. Then take the average amount of time that you sleep and divide it by your total time in bed. So, if you sleep on average 5 hours per night but spend 8 hours per night in bed, your sleep efficiency score is 62.5%. When you start sleep restriction your score should be close to 100% in the first week because you're not going to stay in bed if you're not sleeping!

Thanks I’ll give a try to this !

Thank you for the tips and explanations. I definitely enjoyed this even more because of your calming voice :D

I can only answer general questions here. You could talk to your doctor who would be able to ask you enough questions to do a proper assessment of your sleep problems. Given that you're 16 you might also enjoy the PBS special Inside the Teenage Brain (you should be able to find it online if you google it) where they do discuss some common sleep problems and particular needs of teens.

Need to fix the audio

Yup. I'm pretty sure that's why this is the most watched video on my youtube channel- everyone is watching it when they can't sleep! Hope you're sleeping well soon!

I may be late video is posted 6 years ago but when i see you smiling while u explain makes me so happy idk u look so cute +1 like and subscribe thanks for the video really helped

Hi Peter - I can't give individual advice, only general education. I tell people to see their doctor to rule out any physical problems. If all is well, then start following some (or all) of the self-help advice in this class to get your sleep back on track. You mention going to bed when you need to and not when you're tired and that often causes trouble. If you need more help than the video please see a psychologist who assess your trouble spots and coach you on using the strategies effectively.

Thank you soooooooo much for this video!!!!!!!!! i'll start following ALL of your tips starting TODAY! Mil gracias!! greetings from Mexico!

Excellent presentation, very clear and easy to understand, thank you

Hi! Thank you so much for this video, it was tremendously helpful. Question: I work an intense job that requires I work in the evening from the desk in my bedroom (I share a small apartment with 2 roommates). How can I manage this? They also prefer to have a bright light on in our living room. Your recommendation for how to handle this situation will be highly appreciated!

That's great that you're going right away. I always think it's a good idea to nip these things in the bud and it's great to get some one on one help while you're learning these new strategies. I hope you're sleeping soundly soon!