Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
The first step in treating insomnia with CBT-I is to identify the underlying causes of the insomnia. People with insomnia should evaluate or have their sleep patterns evaluated and take into account all possible factors that may be affecting the person's ability to sleep. This would involve keeping a sleep diary or journal for a couple weeks. The journal will help to identify patterns of thoughts or behaviors, stressors, etc. that could be contributing to the person's insomnia.
Psychological stress and sleep
Insomnia is a common condition affecting up to a fifth of the population in many countries across the world and is often complicated by a number of psychiatric conditions. Paradoxical insomnia is the phenomenon of a discrepancy between reported sleep duration and objective measurement of sleep. In some cases however the stress and anxiety produced by this perception does in fact result in an objective reduction in quality of sleep.