How Dan went from feeling broken to regaining confidence in his natural ability to sleep by changing his response to insomnia (#74)
About this episode
Dan shares his journey from struggling with insomnia to regaining confidence in his ability to sleep by changing his response to sleep-related challenges.
Dan had never struggled with sleep — until a stressful period in late 2023 turned his nights upside down. After a panic attack and a couple of sleepless nights, he found himself pacing the house at 2 a.m., clock-watching, and convinced he was broken. Even after medication gave him one long night of sleep, the struggle came roaring back the very next evening. As a highly-skilled problem solver, Dan threw himself into fixing insomnia. He followed strict routines, taped over every bit of light in his room, tried teas and supplements, and skipped work after difficult nights. Yet the harder he tried, the worse things got. Every attempt to control sleep just added more fear, more pressure, and more exhaustion. Things began to shift when Dan stopped trying to control sleep and fight every thought. He started making small, practical changes: limiting nighttime clock-checks, going to bed later at night when he felt sleepy rather than tired, and committing to one meaningful activity each day — even after rough nights. Those actions reminded him that life didn’t have to stop because of insomnia. Over time, Dan learned to respond differently to the thoughts and feelings that used to…
More episodes of Insomnia Coach® Podcast
- How Lu went from dreading the night to trusting herself by making space for anxiety and practicing kind self-talk (#81)
- How Casaundra went from struggling to control sleep to reclaiming her identity from insomnia (#80)
- How Courtney went from panic-filled nights and endless struggle to trusting her body and sleeping naturally again (#78)
- How Amber stopped trying to fix sleep and insomnia stopped being the boss of her life (#77)
- How Abbie went from being ruled by insomnia to getting her life back by stepping out of the struggle (#76)
- How Natasha went from structuring her days around insomnia to letting sleep come naturally again by putting life before sleep (#75)
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