Any of these sound familiar? None of these behaviors really help, and in fact probably worsen the problem. To successfully and permanently treat evolved or learned insomnia, you’ve got to get to the true roots of the problem.
The root causes for learned insomnia often are negative thoughts and maladaptive behaviors that undermine a good night’s sleep.
The best way to successfully treat learned insomnia is to treat not the symptoms, the sleeplessness itself, but to get at the root causes – which commonly are negative, self-limiting thoughts and counterproductive behaviors that disrupt sleep.
For many of us the solution is not that complicated. Literally tens of millions of us have some form of primary insomnia, often unintentionally caused by negative thoughts and behaviors that undermine sleeping well.
Moreover, even in instances where insomnia is associated with a medical or psychiatric problem, there likely is considerable overlap with a conditioned or learned component that disrupts good sleeping.
Addressing these root causes is the focus of this program.
Using the STS, you will become more aware of and better understand these underlying thoughts and behaviors that interfere with sleep.
Working with proven principles to counter dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors, you will steadily strengthen your mind and body’s inherent natural sleep system. These methods have been shown to help most everyone in some form. Using these tools and techniques, many former insomniacs have become normal sleepers again.
Let’s turn now to some basic principles about sleep. This background knowledge will help you better understand sleep, possibly clear up some misconceptions, and help you begin to feel more confident about strengthening your own sleep system.
What is sleep?
Sleep is a naturally occurring state of deep rest. In humans, sleep is characterized by a disengagement of our conscious minds, and by muscle inactivity. All mammals, and most animals – including birds, reptiles, fish, even insects – need some form of sleep to survive.
The amount of sleep, when it occurs, and how it happens varies widely among different species. A brown bat, for instance, sleeps about 83% of its life, while a giraffe sleeps less than 2 hours a day.
Total Sleep Requirements for Various Species
Species Average Total Sleep Time (hours/day)
brown bat 19.9
owl monkey 17.0
human infant 16.0
bottlenose dolphin 10.4
guinea pig 9.4
human adolescent 9.0
human adult 8.0
National Institutes of Health