2023-05-18 17:00:00
When we wake up at night and can’t sleep anymore, we tend to look at the time. Now, this “time control behavior” and the associated frustration can promote insomnia. This was recently revealed by researchers at Indiana University (USA). To reach this conclusion, they carried out a study, the results of which were published in the journal The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders.
As part of this work, the scientists recruited 4,886 people. They presented to a private medical center dedicated to sleep between May 2003 and October 2013. Participants completed questionnaires regarding the severity of their insomnia, their use of sleeping pills, and the amount of time they spent monitoring their own behavior while sleeping. they try to fall asleep. They were also asked to report any psychiatric diagnoses.
Insomnia: “Time spent monitoring behavior exacerbates symptoms”
“We found that time spent monitoring behavior primarily affects sleeping pill use because it exacerbates symptoms of insomnia. People worry regarding not getting enough sleep, and then they start estimating how long it will take them to go back to sleep and when they should get up. This is not the kind of activity that makes it easier to fall asleep. The more stressed you are, the harder it is to sleep. fall asleep”, explained Spencer Dawson, author of the research, in a statement. According to the results, the more frustration with insomnia increases, the more likely people are to use sleeping pills to try to fall asleep.
How can you resist the urge to look at the time?
According to Spencer Dawson, a simple behavioral intervention might help people suffering from insomnia. “One of the things people might do is turn or hide their clocks, put their smartwatch and phone away so they don’t look at the clock anymore.” The authors state that further research is needed to examine the evolution of these symptoms and clinical behaviors, but also to test whether reducing frustration by avoiding checking the time reduces the use of sleeping pills.
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