Understanding and Treating Chronic Insomnia

Emma McAdam introduces herself as a licensed marriage and family therapist who creates educational videos on mental health. She addresses the common misconceptions about the causes of insomnia.

Emma discusses how anxiety, stress, caffeine intake, and other factors may be perceived as causing insomnia but are not responsible for chronic cases.

Chronic insomnia is often due to bad habits, particularly the habit of staying awake in bed, which trains the brain to associate the bed with activities other than sleep.

CBTI is an evidence-based treatment with an 80% effectiveness rate. It focuses on breaking the conditioned response of associating the bed with wakefulness by encouraging getting out of bed if unable to sleep.

Emma explains the process of getting out of bed after 15 minutes of wakefulness to do a non-stimulating activity and returning only when sleepy, helping the brain relearn that the bed is for sleeping.

CBTI can lead to improved cognitive performance, reduced stress, better memory, and overall better sleep. Emma emphasizes the importance of consistency in this practice.