What is sleep therapy?

Support for Sleep-Related Anxiety, Overthinking, and Unhealthy Sleep Patterns

Sleep can become surprisingly stressful when you feel like you have to get enough of it. 

Maybe you lie awake worrying about how little sleep you're getting, watch the clock throughout the night, or feel anxious about how you'll function the next day. You might find yourself spending so much time thinking about sleep that it becomes even harder to rest.

For others, sleep can feel like a way to escape stress or exhaustion. You may sleep longer than you'd like, struggle to get out of bed, or feel frustrated when your sleep habits interfere with your daily life.

At Carolina Anxiety & OCD Wellness, I provide individualized therapy for teens and adults throughout North Carolina who experience sleep-related anxiety, insomnia, oversleeping, and worries about getting enough sleep.

My goal is to help you develop a healthier relationship with sleep, reduce the pressure you put on yourself, and feel more comfortable when sleep doesn't go exactly as planned.

Sleep anxiety can take many forms. You may experience:

• Worrying about whether you'll get enough hours of sleep.
• Feeling like you must get a certain amount of sleep to function the next day.
• Watching the clock or calculating how much sleep you have left.
• Feeling anxious when you can't fall asleep quickly.
• Overthinking how tired you'll feel tomorrow.
• Trying to control every part of your bedtime routine to guarantee good sleep.
• Feeling frustrated, panicked, or upset after a poor night's sleep.
• Seeking reassurance about how much sleep you need.
• Avoiding activities because you're worried about being tired.
• Feeling pressure to sleep perfectly every night.

When sleep becomes something you constantly monitor or worry about, the pressure itself can make bedtime feel overwhelming.

When anxiety and worry become connected to sleep, therapy can help you change the patterns that may be keeping you stuck.

Together, we'll explore your concerns and develop practical strategies that fit your needs. Treatment may include:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Identifying and working through anxious thoughts and rigid beliefs about sleep, tiredness, and the consequences of a poor night's rest.
• Exposure-based strategies: Gradually practicing situations that bring up sleep-related anxiety, such as tolerating uncertainty about how you'll feel the next day.
• Reducing sleep-related checking: Working on habits such as repeatedly checking the clock, calculating sleep hours, or monitoring how tired you feel.
• Building tolerance for uncertainty: Learning that you cannot guarantee exactly how you'll sleep or feel tomorrow, and that you can still move through your day.
• Reducing perfectionism around sleep: Letting go of the expectation that sleep must happen a certain way every night.
• Developing a healthier relationship with rest: Exploring the pressure you place on yourself and learning to approach sleep with more flexibility.

When insomnia is a primary concern, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is a specialized treatment that may be appropriate. Treatment recommendations depend on your symptoms and individual needs.

Oversleeping can have many causes, including sleep difficulties, stress, mood concerns, medications, or underlying health conditions. Therapy may be helpful when anxiety, avoidance, or emotional patterns are contributing to your sleep habits.

Treatment may focus on:

• Exploring whether stress or emotional exhaustion is affecting your sleep routine.
• Identifying patterns of avoiding responsibilities or difficult feelings through sleep, when applicable.
• Building a more consistent daily routine.
• Working through anxiety or perfectionism that makes getting started with the day difficult.
• Setting realistic goals around morning routines and daily activities.
• Developing coping strategies for stress, overwhelm, and low motivation.

If you're regularly sleeping excessively or feeling unusually tired despite getting enough sleep, it may also be important to speak with a medical professional to explore possible underlying causes.

For some people, sleep becomes another area of life where they feel pressure to get everything right. You may become focused on the exact number of hours you need, the ideal bedtime, or the consequences of getting less sleep than planned.

Therapy can help you work toward:

• Letting go of rigid rules and expectations about sleep.
• Spending less time analyzing and monitoring your sleep.
• Feeling less anxious about occasional restless nights.
• Reducing reassurance seeking about sleep and tiredness.
• Allowing your day to unfold without constantly checking how tired you feel.
• Making choices based on what matters to you rather than fear about how you'll sleep.

The goal isn't to force yourself to stop caring about sleep. It's to help sleep take up less mental space so you can focus on the rest of your life, too.

Ready to get started? Reach out to Carolina Anxiety & OCD Wellness to discuss your concerns and explore whether therapy may be a good fit for you.