Sleep-restriction therapy
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Sleep-restriction therapy
Sleep-restriction therapy is designed to limit the hours you might spend thinking you should be asleep. People with insomnia often stay in bed, trying to sleep more; sleep-restriction therapy limits the amount of time in bed to the actual time spent in sleep and sexual activity. If you have been lying in bed for 8 hours but are only sleeping for 4 hours a night, then with this therapy your time in bed is restricted to 4 hours.
Once you remove the extra time spent trying to sleep, the time in bed is actually spent sleeping. A "sleep debt" accumulates, allowing you to fall asleep sooner each night. As sleep amount increases, so does the amount of time spent in bed.
Credits
| Author | Colleen Cronin |
| Author | Merrill Hayden |
| Editor | Katy E. Magee, MA |
| Editor | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA |
| Associate Editor | Michele Cronen |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Patrice Burgess, MD - Family Medicine |
| Primary Medical Reviewer | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine |
| Specialist Medical Reviewer | Malin K. Clark, MD, FRCPC - Psychiatry |
| Last Updated | February 2, 2006 |
| Last updated: | February 02, 2006 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Merrill Hayden |
| Reviewed By: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Malin K. Clark, MD, FRCPC - Psychiatry |
| Editors: | Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Michele Cronen |
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