Why Sleep Hygiene Will Not Help Your Insomnia

One of the most common suggestions you hear about trouble sleeping is to practice good sleep hygiene. If this term is new to you, it has nothing to do with how clean you are when you go to bed.  

Sleep hygiene is habits and practices that are conducive to good sleep. These can be tips such as turning off all electronics 1-2 hours before bed, using blackout curtains, turning the air conditioning to between 60 – 68 degrees, and much more. 

These tips can help improve comfort while sleeping. However, they will not help you overcome your insomnia and could actually make things worse if you use them in an attempt to sleep more. 

First off, nothing external can control your sleep. That's the most important thing to learn here. When someone with insomnia tries to fix their sleep with sleep hygiene, these are attempts at controlling sleep. When we are sleepy and have low hyperarousal levels, this is when we can sleep. No sleep hygiene tactics are going to affect these areas. 

Maybe you try blackout curtains, and you still don't sleep better, which leaves you frustrated and feeling like something is wrong with you. So, you try something else like adjusting the temperature in the room and still don't sleep any better.  

This leaves you even more frustrated and feeling like something is wrong with you. You just keep trying more and more things and becoming more and more frustrated and feeling hopeless. This reinforces in the brain that there is a "threat" out there which strengthens the fight or flight system. 

Every time you try implementing something new, you begin to self-monitor at bedtime to see if it's working. You also added pressure to sleep, and you are giving your sleep a lot of attention. This is one big recipe for higher hyperarousal levels and more sleepless nights. 

If only overcoming insomnia was as simple as practicing good sleep hygiene. Don't get me wrong. I think it's essential to have a comfortable pillow, bedding, temperature, and lighting level.  

I 100% agree with making sure you are cozy but just remember that it won't do anything to help you overcome your insomnia. There is a deeper issue that needs to be addressed. That's what my Instagram and blog posts are about and even more in-depth in my Sleep Makeover program. 

The best place to start is by downloading my free 5-step checklist to overcome insomnia. You can download it at https://www.katelingates.com/5simplesteps.