SLEEP DEPRIVATION IN THE SHORT TERM TO BENEFIT THE LONG TERM?

October 14, 2022October 14, 2022

584 Views

It sounds counterintuitive, and even counterproductive, but forced sleep restriction is a method used in Cognitive Behavioral Insomnia Treatment, or CBiT.

CBiT 101

CBiT can be used to treat poor sleep or insomnia without any medication or pills. It focuses instead on helping people to build good habits and associations around their beds (and bedrooms). Other interesting techniques include relaxation therapy, biofeedback, and sleep restriction and deprivation to improve sleep quality.

Future Yous:

People who have difficulty sleeping often find themselves awake and frustrated at not being able to fall asleep. The idea is to make you tired for a few nights and then restrict your sleep. This will eventually lead to more sleep and more consistent wake-up and bed times.

In practice, it’s quite systematic. Here are some ways to give it a try:

Calculate how many sleep hours you are getting per night. Let’s assume this is 6.
You should establish a consistent, normal wake-up time. If you don’t have one, set a goal to get up every day at the same time. Let’s assume that this time is 6:05 a.m. 6 is your daily wake-up call.
To calculate the time it takes to get to sleep, go back to 6 a.m. Your new bedtime is midnight, and your new wake-up time is 6 am. )
You will go to bed at midnight, and rise at 6 a.m. You will experience seven consecutive nights of going to sleep at midnight and waking up at six a.m. every morning until you are satisfied. Most people find this occurs faster than they think. They’ll notice that they aren’t getting enough sleep for the first few days, especially if they don’t fall asleep at midnight. Then they will be more than ready to go to bed early in the mornings. After 7 nights of good sleep, you can now set your bedtime 20 min earlier.
You can repeat this cycle by changing your bedtime every 20 minutes for one week of good sleeping at your current bedtime. You’ll soon be able to fall asleep at 10 p.m., and wake up at 6 am. This will allow you to get your 8 hours of sleep without any problems. That’s at least the hope. Those who have achieved success with CBiT sleep restriction have seen this.

Here are three more tips about CBiT. They make sense to me conceptually:

1. Stop the Clock

Many people get up in the morning and glance at their clocks or phones to check how many hours or minutes are left before their alarm goes off. This is where the problem lies:

One: Watching the clock can make you more anxious about how much sleep you are getting or not getting. This can often lead to sleep problems that get worse.

Two: Seeing the bright light in your eyes and opening your eyes is a great way to wake up.

2. Remove the App

As they say, there’s an app to solve all your problems. Sleep tracker apps can give you data such as how much sleep you get each night, how deep you sleep, how often you wake up in the morning, how many times you’ve stirred, and how many times you woke up.

While it might be a good idea to try a sleep app at least once, becoming obsessed with it can lead to sleeplessness. If you have a bad night, you will stress about how you sleep and you will feel pressured to get better the next night. Stress and pressure can lead to restless sleep. The cycle continues.

3. Get the Nap

If you are a good sleeper and take naps every now and again, naps can be great. If you have trouble sleeping at night or rely on naps to get through the week, you can eliminate the monthly nap and replace it by a regular bedtime and wake-up time.

This chart will tell you more about the best and worst times to nap for your needs. It’s full-blown sleep.

Rest well and let us know if you try short-term sleep restriction.

This post was written by Darryl Johnson, Co-Owner of Apex performance. At https://theapexperf.com/ we are a community of highly trained experts looking to provide performance enhancement and a permanent lifestyle change for our clients in a fun and interactive environment. Members can take advantage of one-on-one training, small group classes and specialized courses for a wide variety of athletics, sports training and body goals!