If you’re an insomnia sufferer, this is the reason you should always go to bed later
Research by the University of Pennsylvania say delaying exhaustion can eventually help people drift off to sleep
OFTEN people who struggle with insomnia believe that getting an early night’s sleep is the best thing to do – but now, experts are advising sufferers to go to bed later instead.
Research conducted by the University of Pennsylvania suggests that going to be early could actually be preventing you getting to sleep.
Scientists recommend that you should restrict the amount of time you spend in bed because it can make it harder to drift off and they warn that attempting to recover lost sleep could lead to a chronic condition.
The new research has revealed that between 70 and 80 per cent of people can resolve their sleeping problems by spending less time in bed.
The tactic of staying awake for longer rather than laying in bed tossing and turning is called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and it’s used by insomnia sufferers.
Last month, The American College of Physicians recommended that chronic sufferers of insomnia should be trying CBT before being prescribed drugs as researchers found the therapy improved symptoms and didn’t have any side-effects.
The study by the University of Pennsylvania evaluated the amount of time three groups of sleepers spent in bed over the course of a year.
The three groups were:
a. Good sleepers
b. Good sleepers who suffered from acute insomnia and recovered
c. Good sleepers who now have chronic insomnia after previously being acute.
Results found that only 20 per cent of good sleepers struggled with short-term sleeping issues every year and, of those, seven per cent went on to develop chronic insomnia.
While nearly half of the 20 per cent of good sleepers who had experienced sleeping issues suffered from persistent but periodic insomnia, but 45 per cent made a good recovery.
Dr Michael Perlis, director of the Penn Behavioural Sleep Medicine Programme, said: “Those with insomnia typically extend their sleep opportunity.
“They go to bed early, get out of bed late, and they nap.
“While this seems a reasonable thing to do, and may well be in the short term, the problem in the longer term is it creates a mismatch between the individual’s current sleep ability [which is low] and their current sleep opportunity (which is vast, as it has been extended) – and this fuels insomnia.”
The latest findings are supported by the behavioural model of insomnia (3P model) which claims that sleep extension is the cause of long-term sleeping problems.
![This is because 'in the longer term is it creates a mismatch between the individual's current sleep ability [which is low] and their current sleep opportunity [which is vast, as it has been extended] - and this fuels insomnia'](http://www.mcb777.fun/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/nintchdbpict000244533002.jpg?w=960&strip=all)
Dr Perlis added: “Acute insomnia is likely a natural part of the human condition.
“If you think about the fight flight response, as a trigger for sleeplessness, this makes sense.
“That is, it shouldn’t matter that it’s 3 a.m. and you’ve been awake for the last 22 hours, if you’re being threatened and you believe there is a threat to your quality of life or existence, it’s not a good time to sleep.
“It is understandable that sleeplessness has persisted as an adaptive response to such circumstances.
“In contrast, it’s hard to imagine how chronic insomnia is anything but bad…and the clinical research data supports this position given chronic insomnia’s association with increased medical and psychiatric morbidity.”