If you’re living with chronic insomnia it’s quite likely that you are concerned about sleep deprivation — you might be worried that you just aren’t getting enough sleep, that you are somehow harming yourself by not getting enough sleep, or that you just can’t survive for much longer with the amount of sleep you’re getting.

Here’s the thing, though — chronic insomnia is not the same as sleep deprivation.

It can be so helpful and important to understand the difference between chronic insomnia and sleep deprivation because a lot of our sleeprelated anxiety stems from articles we might read that proclaim the dangers and risks associated with sleep deprivation rather than chronic insomnia.

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Sleep deprivation is about not giving yourself the opportunity to obtain sufficient sleep or when some external factor is preventing you from sleeping when your body wants to sleep.

I have yet to come across anyone with chronic insomnia who deprives themselves of sleep — in fact, usually the opposite is true; people with chronic insomnia typically place a lot of importance on sleep and give themselves a huge opportunity to sleep at night by allotting a large amount of time for sleep while also eliminating anything and everything they can think of that might interrupt or limit sleep!

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The fact of the matter is that as long as we give ourselves the opportunity to get enough sleep in an environment that offers good conditions for sleep to occur, we are not depriving ourselves of sleep, we are not going to be sleep deprived, and we are not going to be doing ourselves harm. In this situation, if our body absolutely needs and requires more sleep, it will generate more sleep.

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So if I am suggesting that you aren’t experiencing sleep deprivation as long as you are giving yourself the opportunity to sleep, why do you feel so sleepy and tired during the day and why aren’t you getting more sleep?

First of all, daytime sleepiness is not a symptom associated with chronic insomnia, but daytime fatigue certainly is — and it can be very easy to mistake fatigue for sleepiness.

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Now, I want to make it clear that I am not suggesting that chronic insomnia has no effect on quality of life — it definitely does! I am also not suggesting that days following very little (or no) sleep aren’t more difficult — they definitely are!

Your goal is probably to get more sleep or to get a better quality of sleep. Although we cannot directly control sleep, we can create better conditions for sleep by ensuring that our thoughts and behaviors aren’t perpetuating sleep disruption by weakening sleep drive, disrupting the body clock, and generating and sustaining arousal.

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When we do this we will often start to feel better during the day and sleep better at night.

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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 provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice 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 any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

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