Living with chronic insomnia is not pleasant so it's completely normal that when you start to sleep better, you might be very concerned by a bad night of sleep.

Unfortunately, this concern can turn what might have been only one hard night into a string of hard nights — and this string of hard nights can lead to worry or even panic as you fear the insomnia is back or that you are back to square one.

The fact of the matter is, just as wakefulness is part of sleep, bad nights are a part of life! If, for example, we receive bad news or are going through a big change or time of upheaval, our sleep is going to be disrupted — it would be unusual for it not to be.

However, because it takes time to regain confidence in your ability to sleep (even as you string together an increasing number of good nights of sleep), it is so easy to immediately worry as soon as a bad night of sleep happens.

To avoid one night of bad sleep from turning into a string of hard nights, it's important to recognize that bad nights from time to time are completely normal — it is our reaction to these bad nights that determine whether they'll be a oneoff or if they'll linger for longer.

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Sometimes it can be helpful to spend a moment or two to see if you can think of any obvious reason why your sleep might have been disrupted (sometimes there is a clear external cause, but sometimes there is not).

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It's also important to remind yourself that you have the control here — you are in control of how you choose to react to the hard night. Furthermore, if your sleep has been improving because you implemented cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) techniques, you know that you can get your sleep back on track by simply reimplementing the techniques that you have found effective in the past.

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Why it's important to implement CBTI techniques sooner rather than later when living with insomnia:    • Why it's important to implement CBTI...  

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My name is Martin Reed and I am the founder of Insomnia Coach®. I offer sleep coaching services that give people with insomnia all the skills and support they need to enjoy better sleep for the rest of their lives. I also offer a free twoweek sleep training course for people with insomnia at https://insomniacoach.com/sleeptrain...

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All content found on the Insomnia Coach YouTube channel is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice or medical treatment and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or other licensed healthcare provider. All content is provided as is, and without warranties.

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