According to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, about one in four Americans develops insomnia each year. Insomnia is not just difficulty falling asleep, but difficulty staying asleep. Many things can cause insomnia: worry about the past or the future, stress, too much screen time before bed, medications, and illness. When we don’t sleep, our ability to function the next day may be impaired. We don’t feel that we’re at our best when we don’t feel restored by sleep. We may try different things to get to sleep: counting sheep, getting out of bed until we feel tired, trying to quiet our minds, or we may use substances to help bring on sleep. Often, the more we worry about getting to sleep, the more likely we are to remain awake. Substances may help lull us to sleep, but we often still feel groggy in the morning or long-term use of the substance may have poor results for our health.
How Live True Counseling Can Help
Therapy can often help with insomnia. When you talk about the things that are bothering you, you unburden yourself. Worries that seemed inevitable or insurmountable can be more easily managed with the help of therapy. Therapy may help you get to the root cause of the anxieties that keep you up at night and provide you with a way to face those anxieties. It can provide you with the tools you need to quiet and calm your active mind at night. Talking through the things that feel like they’re hanging over you and constantly on your mind can help improve not just the quantity of sleep you get, but the quality as well.
Therapists at Live True Counseling have experience with insomnia. We provide a safe and welcoming place for you to explore the things that are keeping you awake. We understand that it feels unfair that those around us seem to have no trouble sleeping, while we toss and turn at night. We can help you examine your frustration, guilt, or anger around not being able to sleep. Together, we can help you break the cycle of anxiety and worry that keeps you up at night.
