Self-help for insomnia
According to the Finnish Current Care Guidelines (Käypä hoito), the first-line treatment for long-term insomnia is non-drug treatment, and the most effective method is cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia. You can practise its basic principles yourself. This guide goes through the parts of the method and tells you when you need professional help.
You will need
- A sleep diary
- An alarm clock
- Mielenterveystalo's self-help programme for insomnia or Terveyskylä's Sleep Hub (Unitalo)
- 6 weeks of time
Steps
Keep a sleep diary for a week
Every morning, record when you went to bed, roughly when you fell asleep, any awakenings, when you woke up and when you got up. Work out your average actual sleep time.
Calculate your sleep efficiency
Limit your time in bed
Follow stimulus control
Extend the time gradually
Identify your thoughts about sleep
Introduce a worry time
Be prepared for tiredness at first
Get help in good time
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