The following procedure is recommended

  • avoid drinks containing caffeine after lunch (black tea, cola, coffee, etc.),
  • do not use alcohol as a sleeping aid, as it leads to superficial sleep and periods of wakefulness,
  • do not use appetite suppressants, as these stimulate the nervous system,
  • do not eat heavy meals in the evening,
  • introduce a bedtime ritual (evening walks, drinking tea),
  • do not go to bed hungry,
  • regular physical activity,
  • physical exertion late at night leads to a rise in body temperature and can make it difficult to fall asleep,
  • create a pleasant atmosphere in the bedroom,
  • do not take an afternoon nap,
  • do not fall asleep on the sofa or in front of the television in the evening.

Important note

Only go to bed when you feel tired (called sleep pressure).

Paying attention to various factors helps you to fall asleep more easily in the evening.

Example 1 - Sofa sleeper

Falling asleep in front of the TV had already become a good habit. It was just too comfortable. When she went into the bedroom after waking up and lay down, it was often difficult to fall asleep.

Practical application

She resolved not to go to bed until she was clearly tired. The problem was that she couldn’t control her drifting off to sleep on the sofa. So she had to do something to correctly assess her tiredness. To do this, she simply sat on a chair while watching TV for a few evenings. In the upright position and on the hard chair, she noticed her tiredness more clearly and got out of the habit of falling asleep on the sofa.

Example 2 - straining to stay awake

He tried hard to stay awake throughout the day so that he could do his work. The amount of caffeinated drinks he consumed was now impressive. In the evening, he was exhausted and couldn’t sleep. He sought fatigue through heavy physical exertion in the late evening. He was also seen jogging through the city at midnight in an attempt to find sleep.

Practical application

He decided to stop consuming caffeinated drinks for a while after lunch. To do this, he slowly reduced the amount of caffeinated drinks step by step over several days. It wasn’t easy, but it couldn’t go on like that. Tiredness set in by late afternoon. He also gave up anything that caused his body temperature to rise before going to bed. This included strenuous exercise late in the evening, jogging himself tired or taking long, very hot showers. All of these would raise his body temperature and make it difficult to fall asleep. Instead, he postponed exercise until the early evening and decided to drink a cup of herbal tea as a ritual before going to bed.

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© 2024 PIRKA® Wolfgang Smidt. The content provided on this website is protected by copyright. Any use requires the prior written consent of the author. The information and advice provided has been compiled to the best of our knowledge and carefully checked. However, it is no substitute for expert psychological and medical advice in individual cases.

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PIRKA wishes you every success with the application.

Literature

Backhaus, J. & Riemann, D. (1999). Schlafstörungen. Fortschritte der Psychotherapie. Göttingen: Hogrefe

Crönlein, T. (2013). Primäre Insomnie. Ein Gruppentherapieprogramm für den stationären Bereich. Göttingen: Hogrefe.

Gerrig, R.J., Dörfler, T. & Roos, J. (Hrsg.) (2018). Psychologie. München: Pearson

Hertenstein, E., Nissen, C. & Riemann, D. (2017). Insomnie. In Brakemeier, E.-L. & Jacobi, F. (Hrsg.). Verhaltenstherapie in der Praxis (S. 586-594). Weinheim: Beltz

Riemann, D. (2004). Ratgeber Schlafstörungen. Göttingen: Hogrefe

Riemann, D. (2011). Schlafstörungen. In Linden, M. & Hautzinger, M. (Hrsg.). Verhaltenstherapiemanual ((S. 631-634). Heidelberg: Springer

Scharfenstein, A. & Basler, H.-D. (2004). Schlafstörungen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht