Time-Monitoring Behavior While Trying To Sleep Could Worsen Insomnia [Study]

(Photo: Pexels/Miriam Alonso)
Time-Monitoring Behavior While Trying to Sleep Could Worsen Insomnia [Study]

Insomniacs struggle to sleep; some tend to watch the clock only to get frustrated at how many hours have been wasted while in bed trying to sleep. According to a new study, monitoring time will only worsen the condition.

Time-Monitoring Behavior Worsens Insomnia

Although estimates for insomnia in the community range from 10 to 60 percent, experts are certain that it is associated with several long-term health problems, including depression and cardiovascular disease.

A recent study describes how clock-watching, or time-monitoring behavior (TMB), to be precise, may make insomniacs' conditions even more unpleasant. Time monitoring can potentially exacerbate sleeplessness, heighten frustration, and promote the usage of sleeping pills, making it even harder for insomniacs to slumber, according to a new study, per ScienceAlert.

The researchers discovered that it functions as a kind of negative feedback loop. TMB worsens sleeplessness and related annoyances, encouraging more clock-watching and other negative behaviors.

According to clinical psychologist Spencer Dawson of Indiana University Bloomington, when people worry that they aren't getting enough sleep, they begin making predictions about how long it will take them to fall asleep again and when they must wake up. That is not the kind of action that aids in making it easier to go to sleep. The more worried you are, the more difficulty you will get the rest you desire.

Dawson and his colleagues discovered that time-monitoring behavior mostly influences the usage of sleep medications since it worsens insomnia symptoms.

TMB wasn't the sole factor in the use of medication, either. The researchers found that frustration with being unable to fall asleep is as crucial for managing insomnia.

Specific Therapies For Insomnia

The degree of their insomnia, the amount of time spent observing their behavior while attempting to fall asleep, and their use of both over-the-counter and prescription sleep medications were among the sleep-related data that Dawson and his colleagues examined from 4,886 patients who completed a questionnaire at a sleep medical center in Arizona.

The group then employed mediation analyses, which involved comparing factors statistically to uncover relationships. In this case, clock watching is thought to act as a "mediator" between the three variables of insomnia, the use of sleep aids and clock watching.

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The findings revealed a clear relationship between all three factors. Increased clock-watching and increased use of sleep aids were observed by those who had both insomnia and related psychiatric problems.

The researchers suggested particular therapy, such as cognitive restructuring or dealing with emotional processing, to lessen frustration and reduce the need for sleep aids.

Cognitive restructuring therapy is a group of therapeutic techniques to aid individuals with negative thinking patterns that can become destructive and self-defeating. This type of therapy is at the heart of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which helps in addressing mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety disorders, according to Healthline.

In cognitive behavioral therapy, the therapist and patient work together to identify the latter's faulty thought patterns that may have contributed to the problem and practice techniques to reshape it.

The study was part of a larger investigation into the widespread use of prescription and over-the-counter sleep aids. Concerns about the long-term effectiveness and health concerns of these drugs exist.

According to the study, the fewer individuals who use those drugs, the better. They hoped that a simple intervention like checking the clock less often while trying to sleep could bring the number down.

The study was published in Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders.