#6 - The Trauma of Insomnia

In episode 2, I talked about what insomnia was not--namely sleep deprivation. In this episode, we begin to explore what insomnia is and who is most at risk. I also explore the unique role of trauma both as a precipitant, but also a perpetuator of insomnia.  In this episode we will:revisit how insomnia differs from sleep deprivation and why confusion between the two creates therapeutic problemsexamine risk factors for developing insomniareview studies that demonstrate insomnia patients are generally sleeping relatively normal amountsuncover studies that reveal that insomnia patients generally do not share identifiable sleep study deficienciesunderstand why insomnia patients often develop negative views of their sleep and how this factor alone, irrespective of sleep quality and amount, predicts disbilityexplore how trauma can create or precipitate insomnia, but more importantly how insomnia itself, over time, can become its own form of trauma, helping to perpetuate the condition.appreciate that when a sleep specialist tells a patient that he does not have sleep deprivation when he has insomnia, she is not saying the patient does not have a problem. While  insomnia is often not the problem the patient thinks they have, it can be a tremendous burden in and of itself, and trauma is often playing a central role. Produced by: Maeve WinterMusic by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reservedMoreTwitter: @drchriswinterIG: @drchriwinterThreads: @drchriswinterBluesky: @drchriswinterThe Sleep Solution and The Rested ChildThanks for listening and sleep well!