Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that affects about 10-30% of adults worldwide. It’s defined as a difficulty getting to sleep and/or staying asleep and persists over a period of time.
Insomnia can be caused by a variety of factors, including the genes you’re born with, stress, changes in sleep schedules and health issues. Luckily, it’s very treatable and there are available tools that can effectively change your relationship with sleep and improve your sleep quality.
Podcast guest, Spencer Richards, Ph.D., is back to offer ways to overcome insomnia. Spencer works as a full-time clinical health psychologist and specializes in the treatment of concerns that arise in the space where our mental and physical health meet.
He holds specialty training that includes insomnia, chronic pain, weight management and emotional eating, chronic illness management, and improving overall well-being.
In this episode, Spencer defines insomnia and explains how good sleep hygiene is necessary but insufficient for this condition. He walks us through how to get out of your body’s way of receiving sleep signals, what causes insomnia, and how using a sleep diary is an important tool to examine patterns of sleep.
Spencer describes sleep consolidation, offers his view on naps, and gives advice on how to decrease the length of time you spend in bed awake.
