The Upside: Invested in Wellness with Jessie Sarafian – February 4, 2026

Join us for a special episode on insomnia with Registered Respiratory Therapist Marlee Boyle. Insomnia affects up to 30% of adults, yet many people are unaware that there is a highly effective, non-medication treatment available. In this session, we’ll break down what insomnia really is, why it becomes chronic and why Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is considered the gold-standard, first-line treatment. You’ll be introduced to the five core components of CBT-I and how they work together to improve sleep, reduce nighttime struggle and help many people decrease or eliminate reliance on sleep medications.

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Transcript

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Hello, and welcome to Invested in Wellness.

 

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I'm Jessie Sarafian. I'm super excited for today's show.

 

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We are joined by special guest, Marlee Boyle.

 

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She's a registered respiratory therapist and co-founder of

 

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SleepWorks. Today we will dive into insomnia, break

 

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down what it really is.

 

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We'll also discuss cognitive behavioural therapy, its core components

 

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and how they work together to improve sleep, reduce nighttime

 

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struggle and help many people decrease or eliminate reliance

 

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on sleep medications.

 

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Marlee, thank you so much for joining us today.

 

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Thank you so much for having me back, Jessie.

 

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I'm so excited to talk about this.

 

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Looking forward to our conversation.

 

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Those on the line if you have any questions for Marlee throughout the

 

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show please type it in the Q&A box at the bottom of your screen.

 

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We'd like to keep this as interactive as possible.

 

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Marlee, for those of you meeting you for the first time can you tell

 

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us a little bit about yourself and your journey in the sleep space?

 

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I did take a kind of unconventional path into

 

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sleep therapy. I

 

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was a registered respiratory therapist working in critical care and

 

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had to do shift work. I struggled with my sleep myself

 

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for most of my life and then that disruption of

 

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trying to stay awake all night and sleep during the

 

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daytime and then shift back and forth, I knew I was

 

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kind of falling apart.

 

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I remember being very early in my career thinking, ooh,

 

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I think my sleep is going to create an expiration date for my career.

 

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Ironically, I looked into other areas where I

 

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could work and I got a job in a sleep disorder clinic and lab.

 

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It was working there that I found some solutions that I

 

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had been looking for and a lifestyle that was more conducive to

 

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better sleep. It was really where I fell in love with sleep as

 

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part of our health care.

 

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It's such an undervalued part of our system and

 

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part of our lives and yet it's so foundational.

 

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I do believe sleep is the best medicine.

 

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It was just through being able to

 

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see people get well and improve quality of life with improved sleep

 

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and overcome different health problems by

 

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being able to properly rest and get adequate sleep, I

 

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just fell in love with it and became obsessed with it and really

 

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grew from there and went on to do further education so

 

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I could continue to educate and

 

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help people.

 

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I love that and I couldn't agree more. The work that you and your

 

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team does at SleepWorks is amazing, so we

 

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appreciate you. I agree, sleep is so, so important.

 

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If we can't sleep we can't function.

 

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The big first question, what is insomnia?

 

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It's such a broad term.

 

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Absolutely. Insomnia is kind of an umbrella

 

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term and within that there's short term insomnia.

 

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Short term or maybe it's lasting a few weeks or

 

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a few nights and it's generally caused by something kind

 

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of obvious. It's usually stress, travel, illness,

 

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a big life change, and typically when that situation resolves

 

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the sleeplessness resolves.

 

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Either they're having difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep,

 

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or waking up too early.

 

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That's a short term insomnia that most people have

 

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experienced or will experience in our life.

 

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Then we look at the more clinical side of insomnia, which is chronic

 

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insomnia or long term insomnia.

 

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That's generally where we want to start to address some

 

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strategies and things because it is so detrimental to our health.

 

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Chronic insomnia looks like whatever that

 

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initial precipitating factor was that caused that sleeplessness

 

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is probably in the past now but the sleep problem is

 

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still continuing and operating on its own.

 

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The hallmark

 

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of that chronic insomnia is that we start to worry about our

 

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sleep and worry about not being rested, worrying about our health

 

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and different things from the impact of not sleeping.

 

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That, therefore, perpetuates the sleep problem.

 

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That's where we see the chronic insomnia which is people

 

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having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up throughout

 

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the night or too early for more than three nights

 

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a week for longer than three months.

 

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Yeah, wow. Why do you think so many people are so affected

 

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by it? Statistics show that it affects up to

 

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30% of adults.

 

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It is the most common sleep disorder in the world, in the developed

 

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world anyway. I do think that modern day life

 

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really isn't conducive to good sleep.

 

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We have very busy schedules.

 

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We have sometimes 24 hour

 

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operations of things, irregular schedules, we

 

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have screens, it's just not that conducive

 

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to good sleep naturally.

 

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It is something that we actually have to put effort towards to

 

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improve our sleep.

 

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Insomnia does affect women more often

 

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than men at a higher prevalence rate.

 

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Stress and all of those things

 

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that come along with it certainly are factors.

 

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For women, we're experiencing biological shifts

 

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and hormones and things like that, hormone changes,

 

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pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause, we have all

 

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of those challenges to our sleep on top of

 

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the modern day life.

 

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Women tend to take on most of the cognitive load, we're the

 

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glue holding it together, and I do think

 

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that that's also adding to the higher prevalence for women.

 

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I can relate, as a woman, as a mom, we take

 

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so much on in the household with parenting and work and

 

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trying to juggle a successful and

 

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healthy relationship with our partner and work-life balance.

 

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I know when my son was very little, hardly any sleep

 

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but then I can still function and I can get stuff done which is wild.

 

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Kudos to the moms out there.

 

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The mom super power.

 

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I totally agree. What do you think are some of the misconceptions

 

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about insomnia?

 

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I think probably one of the biggest misconceptions about insomnia

 

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and about sleep in general is that we all need eight hours

 

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of sleep, and that if we got eight hours of sleep we

 

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would all be feeling great and doing great and our health would be

 

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perfect. The reality is that sleep

 

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varies and the amount of sleep that we need varies throughout

 

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different times in our lives. What you explained with raising your

 

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baby and you were getting by on very little sleep.

 

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You were totally surviving and doing something very important

 

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but you didn't maybe

 

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need as much sleep at that time to function.

 

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There's a big variation. The general recommendation

 

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is that we're getting seven to nine hours of sleep

 

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but there's a $100 billion industry that

 

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is very invested in us worrying

 

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about not getting eight hours of asleep, and that worry

 

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actually creates more problems around insomnia because

 

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when we're worried about not getting enough sleep being anxious or

 

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worrying is not conducive to being able to fall asleep.

 

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Our sleep needs vary a lot throughout our

 

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lives and eight hours is not a magic number.

 

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A lot of people thrive on seven hours and do very,

 

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very well. I do think that a

 

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big misconception is that we need to get eight hours

 

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of sleep and not getting that's going to cause us problems.

 

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Humans are pretty resilient and we can usually manage with

 

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less sleep at different periods of our life.

 

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The goal is just to get enough sleep that we can function

 

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well throughout the day. Worrying about not

 

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getting enough sleep is one of the reasons that we're not sleeping

 

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well.

 

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Yes, I totally agree. I want to touch on briefly, because I

 

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know we brought this up in our sleep series, all these tools, the

 

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aura ring and all these sleep apps,

 

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that can be counterintuitive because now you're focusing on, oh, no I

 

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didn't get the seven to eight hours.

 

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What are your thoughts on that?

 

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Great question. Since there's been so much new wearable technology

 

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for tracking our sleep there's been a new term coined

 

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called orthosomnia.

 

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It's essentially being kind of worrying about looking

 

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at that data and waking up every morning and saying, oh, no, I only

 

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got 4% of REM sleep.

 

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It actually does impact the way that they're

 

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feeling and the way they're sleeping.

 

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It's creating more anxiety and more pressure on them to try to

 

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achieve better sleep, when really trying to sleep is usually

 

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the problem.

 

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It's more of a passive behaviour. We have to kind of set ourselves up

 

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for sleep and let it happen.

 

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When we're so focused on the tracking and the numbers

 

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it's a lot of pressure.

 

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Our nervous system responds to that as, ooh, there must be something

 

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wrong around our sleep because we're having all these worries

 

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around it.

 

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Take the wearable information with a grain of salt.

 

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It is not objective data of your sleep.

 

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I'm sure if any of you have those wearables

 

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sometimes you're just lying really still and it's registering

 

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you that you're in deep sleep and you're, like, I'm sure I'm awake

 

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right now.

 

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That's great. I now want to get into the cognitive behavioural

 

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therapy. Can you explain to our viewers what that is?

 

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Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is

 

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a modality of therapy.

 

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Cognitive behavioural therapy is very common in psychology, very

 

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effective modality of treatment.

 

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In insomnia it is the gold standard treatment for those chronic

 

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cases of insomnia.

 

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A misconception also would be that

 

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sleeping pills are the treatment for chronic sleep problems but

 

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we know that sleeping aids don't really fix the problem because we

 

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can take sleeping aids when we have these long term sleep problems

 

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and they either don't work that well or when we stop taking them

 

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the insomnia just comes right back.

 

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It never actually addressed the root problem.

 

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Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia actually addresses

 

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the underlying causes of insomnia which is

 

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whatever that initial precipitating factor was, it was the worrying

 

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about it and then our behaviours that followed that really ingrained

 

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in us that insomnia.

 

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Chronic insomnia is a learned condition so it can be unlearned

 

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and the modality is cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia

 

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which is considered the first line treatment for insomnias.

 

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It's supposed to be the first line treatment.

 

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It's the preferred treatment because it's

 

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changing the way we think and the way that we behave around our

 

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sleep. There's no side effects to that which is

 

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wonderful compared to a lot of the pharmaceuticals that we can take

 

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that are much less effective for treating chronic

 

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insomnia.

 

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I understand that there's five core components of cognitive

 

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behavioural therapy. Can you explain each one, please?

 

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Absolutely.

 

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Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is typically delivered

 

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over several weeks, one session a week,

 

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between five and eight sessions is pretty typical for a program.

 

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Each week you're introduced to a new core component of CBTI.

 

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A lot of people get cognitive behavioural therapy for

 

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insomnia confused with sleep hygiene, which is

 

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making sure your room is cool, dark and quiet and all of those

 

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things, but not going to be effective if you have chronic insomnia.

 

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The five core components that really start to change

 

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the trajectory of insomnia are cognitive restructuring

 

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is the first one.

 

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Cognitive restructuring is taking the worries that

 

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we have about our sleep which are very normal human responses

 

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when we are struggling with sleep.

 

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We have those worries, oh, no, how will I be able to function

 

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tomorrow, or I'm going to get sick because I'm not sleeping enough

 

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or we start doing the countdown which is very common.

 

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You see the time on the clock and you're like, okay, if I fall asleep

 

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right now I'll get six hours.

 

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I'm familiar with that one.

 

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It's that very normal human response but that becomes a repetitive

 

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experience so those worries start to create anxiety

 

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for us around sleep. That is not conducive to good sleep.

 

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Those thoughts aren't really helpful.

 

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They're very human but they're not helpful to our sleep.

 

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Cognitive restructuring is addressing those thoughts and just

 

236

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changing them to more adaptive and helpful for our sleep.

 

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Instead of lying in bed and being like, oh no, I'm not gonna

 

238

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be able to function tomorrow and just perpetuating

 

239

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the worry about not sleeping and then continuing to not sleep,

 

240

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we can address that thought of like, no, I'll probably be okay

 

241

00:13:48.194 --> 00:13:51.163

tomorrow. There's no guarantee that if I have a bad night's sleep I'm

 

242

00:13:51.163 --> 00:13:53.332

gonna have a bad day tomorrow.

 

243

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The more realistic adaptive thought that we would restructure to

 

244

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is, I could have a good day

 

245

00:14:00.506 --> 00:14:03.943

tomorrow. I've done this before, I've gone to work with

 

246

00:14:03.943 --> 00:14:07.479

less sleep and I was okay, the day went fine, and it could be

 

247

00:14:07.479 --> 00:14:09.114

fine tomorrow too.

 

248

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It's not that you're telling yourself you're a great sleeper but it

 

249

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is changing that so you're not putting so much pressure on yourself,

 

250

00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:19.058

I gotta fall asleep right now, which doesn't work.

 

251

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That's one component.

 

252

00:14:22.728 --> 00:14:26.265

The second component is sleep scheduling, sometimes people call

 

253

00:14:26.265 --> 00:14:28.367

it sleep consolidation.

 

254

00:14:28.367 --> 00:14:31.904

One of the most common things that people do when they're struggling

 

255

00:14:31.904 --> 00:14:35.341

to fall asleep or stay asleep is they start spending more time

 

256

00:14:35.341 --> 00:14:38.844

in bed. If it's taking me two hours to fall asleep, well, I'm

 

257

00:14:38.844 --> 00:14:42.348

gonna get in bed two hours earlier so I can fall asleep

 

258

00:14:42.348 --> 00:14:44.350

by a certain time.

 

259

00:14:44.350 --> 00:14:48.654

While that does seem intuitive to do it's actually counterproductive

 

260

00:14:48.654 --> 00:14:52.291

because what happens is we have a regulator

 

261

00:14:52.291 --> 00:14:55.861

of our sleep, which is how tired we are, when we're

 

262

00:14:55.861 --> 00:14:59.732

lying in bed for extended periods of time we're

 

263

00:14:59.732 --> 00:15:03.302

not getting sleepy. We might be laying in bed feeling fatigued

 

264

00:15:03.302 --> 00:15:06.605

but we're actually feeling that drowsy effect.

 

265

00:15:06.605 --> 00:15:10.342

We're as sleepy in a consolidated amount of time to

 

266

00:15:10.342 --> 00:15:14.713

be able to sleep for seven to nine hours.

 

267

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Sleep scheduling or sleep consolidation therapy involves we

 

268

00:15:18.651 --> 00:15:22.154

track your sleep for a period of two weeks, we see what your average

 

269

00:15:22.154 --> 00:15:25.691

sleep time is over those two weeks, and we start to

 

270

00:15:25.691 --> 00:15:29.228

limit your time that you're spending in bed to get closer to that

 

271

00:15:29.228 --> 00:15:32.831

time so most of the time that you're in your bed you're

 

272

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sleeping.

 

273

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That's probably one of the tougher components for people.

 

274

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Stimulus control is a third component. We

 

275

00:15:42.975 --> 00:15:46.545

like to kind of rebrand it and call it the 2020 rule.

 

276

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Stimulus control is very common in psychology as

 

277

00:15:49.982 --> 00:15:51.784

far as Pavlov's Law.

 

278

00:15:51.784 --> 00:15:55.321

He would ring a bell and feed his dogs and ring a bell and feed

 

279

00:15:55.354 --> 00:15:58.524

his dogs and eventually he could ring a bell and his dogs would

 

280

00:15:58.524 --> 00:16:02.061

salivate, they'd be hungry as a response to the bell

 

281

00:16:02.061 --> 00:16:04.730

even if there was no food present.

 

282

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We do build these subconscious associations with

 

283

00:16:08.434 --> 00:16:10.269

our environment.

 

284

00:16:10.269 --> 00:16:13.772

When we have gone to bed and struggled with sleep over and over

 

285

00:16:13.772 --> 00:16:17.376

again our brain, our subconscious has made the connection with our

 

286

00:16:17.376 --> 00:16:20.846

bed, his isn't where I go to sleep, this is where I go to worry about

 

287

00:16:20.846 --> 00:16:22.514

not sleeping.

 

288

00:16:22.514 --> 00:16:26.919

For a lot of us women we're going to solve the problems of the world,

 

289

00:16:26.919 --> 00:16:30.422

organize our family's schedule for the next week, all

 

290

00:16:30.422 --> 00:16:34.193

of those things. Our brain is making the association that bed isn't

 

291

00:16:34.193 --> 00:16:35.527

for sleeping.

 

292

00:16:35.527 --> 00:16:37.896

Stimulus control is a very simple concept.

 

293

00:16:37.896 --> 00:16:40.265

It's get out of bed when you can't sleep.

 

294

00:16:40.265 --> 00:16:42.901

We don't want to lie there continuing to try.

 

295

00:16:42.901 --> 00:16:45.971

You want to remove yourself from the bed, go do something kind of

 

296

00:16:45.971 --> 00:16:49.608

boring until you feel sleepy, and then only put yourself back into

 

297

00:16:49.608 --> 00:16:51.443

bed when you do feel drowsy.

 

298

00:16:51.443 --> 00:16:54.546

So your brain starts to associate your bed with this is where I go

 

299

00:16:54.546 --> 00:16:58.851

when I'm drowsy, to fall asleep, not where I go to start worrying.

 

300

00:16:58.851 --> 00:17:02.321

That's a big one that's a technique that everyone can use even

 

301

00:17:02.321 --> 00:17:05.791

if you're not struggling with chronic insomnia, not lying

 

302

00:17:05.791 --> 00:17:09.428

in bed when we're having difficulty falling asleep or

 

303

00:17:09.428 --> 00:17:12.965

staying asleep for too long can be beneficial, kind

 

304

00:17:12.965 --> 00:17:16.502

of short circuit that spiral of anxiety and thoughts that

 

305

00:17:16.502 --> 00:17:22.841

we have while we're lying there, trying to sleep.

 

306

00:17:22.841 --> 00:17:25.344

Fourth is more of your specialty, Jessie.

 

307

00:17:25.344 --> 00:17:29.014

It is relaxation, relaxation and

 

308

00:17:29.014 --> 00:17:31.450

resetting our nervous system.

 

309

00:17:31.450 --> 00:17:35.587

We do go through a bit of active relaxation training.

 

310

00:17:35.587 --> 00:17:39.825

By no means am I a meditation guru or a yoga expert

 

311

00:17:39.825 --> 00:17:43.929

but those things can be so beneficial for your nervous system.

 

312

00:17:43.929 --> 00:17:47.699

Most people with insomnia have a

 

313

00:17:47.699 --> 00:17:51.303

hyper arousal of their nervous system. Their awake system is very

 

314

00:17:51.303 --> 00:17:54.907

strong, they're vigilant, all of those things, but it's hard

 

315

00:17:54.907 --> 00:17:56.408

to shut it down at night.

 

316

00:17:56.408 --> 00:17:59.845

Our daily relaxation practise, even as little as 10

 

317

00:17:59.845 --> 00:18:04.049

minutes per day of actively, consciously relaxing,

 

318

00:18:04.049 --> 00:18:07.619

trying to elicit that parasympathetic nervous system, has been

 

319

00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:10.322

shown to be very beneficial to our sleep.

 

320

00:18:10.322 --> 00:18:15.761

It's not that we need to create elaborate,

 

321

00:18:15.761 --> 00:18:17.763

extensive relaxation practices.

 

322

00:18:17.763 --> 00:18:21.333

It can be as simple as giving yourself that 10 minutes to reset

 

323

00:18:21.333 --> 00:18:23.869

your nervous system.

 

324

00:18:23.869 --> 00:18:26.672

The fifth and last component is sleep hygiene.

 

325

00:18:26.672 --> 00:18:30.409

Once you can sleep then practicing those healthy habits

 

326

00:18:30.409 --> 00:18:33.979

of making sure your room is cool, dark and quiet, going to bed at

 

327

00:18:33.979 --> 00:18:37.716

the same time every night, waking up at the time every morning, not

 

328

00:18:37.716 --> 00:18:41.253

eating large meals before bed, all of those things that we kind of

 

329

00:18:41.253 --> 00:18:44.723

know as healthy sleep habits, then they're very helpful to

 

330

00:18:44.723 --> 00:18:47.092

the sleep that we are getting.

 

331

00:18:47.092 --> 00:18:50.596

Sleep hygiene and practicing some of those behaviours can be really

 

332

00:18:50.596 --> 00:18:54.166

frustrating when we've struggled for a long time and those things

 

333

00:18:54.166 --> 00:18:55.868

are not effective.

 

334

00:18:55.868 --> 00:18:59.004

We'll often hear from clients, I know I'm supposed to put my phone

 

335

00:18:59.004 --> 00:19:02.441

away but I put it away and I'm still not sleeping.

 

336

00:19:02.441 --> 00:19:06.011

While putting your phone away is a

 

337

00:19:06.011 --> 00:19:09.781

great technique it's not gonna fix a clinical case of insomnia.

 

338

00:19:09.781 --> 00:19:13.352

That's where cognitive behavioural therapy is very effective

 

339

00:19:13.352 --> 00:19:17.623

and it is an evidence-based treatment with about an 80 to 85%

 

340

00:19:17.623 --> 00:19:20.893

efficacy, which is high in medicine.

 

341

00:19:20.893 --> 00:19:24.563

That's so informative. I was gonna say our cell phones, the phone, is

 

342

00:19:24.563 --> 00:19:28.200

the biggest culprit. As you say, we're laying in bed, we

 

343

00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:31.703

can't fall asleep, we're scrolling on our phones which

 

344

00:19:31.703 --> 00:19:34.072

obviously does not help.

 

345

00:19:34.072 --> 00:19:37.543

That's right. It really reinforces that this isn't where

 

346

00:19:37.543 --> 00:19:41.613

we go to just rest. This is where we're going to be stimulated or

 

347

00:19:41.613 --> 00:19:44.950

read the news cycle, doom scroll, all of those things, even playing

 

348

00:19:44.950 --> 00:19:48.487

games on our phones, sometimes people are like, oh, but it helps

 

349

00:19:48.487 --> 00:19:52.491

me down regulate but really the light and the stimulation is

 

350

00:19:52.491 --> 00:19:55.794

not helpful to conducive good sleep.

 

351

00:19:55.794 --> 00:19:59.231

Totally, and speaking of not functioning we have two

 

352

00:19:59.231 --> 00:20:02.601

questions from our audience.

 

353

00:20:02.601 --> 00:20:06.071

One of our viewers, they get about six to seven

 

354

00:20:06.071 --> 00:20:09.641

hours of sleep but then one day a week

 

355

00:20:09.641 --> 00:20:13.212

they get about three to four which really throws them off for

 

356

00:20:13.212 --> 00:20:15.013

several days to recover.

 

357

00:20:15.013 --> 00:20:18.183

What are your suggestions or tips?

 

358

00:20:18.183 --> 00:20:19.718

That can be really tough.

 

359

00:20:19.718 --> 00:20:23.956

They're doing a good job on the majority of days

 

360

00:20:23.956 --> 00:20:26.625

prioritizing getting six to seven hours.

 

361

00:20:26.625 --> 00:20:30.762

Seven hours is kind of the goal to feel well rested,

 

362

00:20:30.762 --> 00:20:33.131

the minimum amount.

 

363

00:20:33.131 --> 00:20:36.935

On those days that we have those short sleeps or really disrupted

 

364

00:20:36.935 --> 00:20:39.304

sleeps it can take a toll on us.

 

365

00:20:39.304 --> 00:20:42.741

My advice for those days, one is to not stress

 

366

00:20:42.741 --> 00:20:44.376

about it too much.

 

367

00:20:44.376 --> 00:20:47.746

There's a lot of research that worrying about, oh, I only got three

 

368

00:20:47.746 --> 00:20:51.216

hours of sleep, how will I function today, that actually impacts

 

369

00:20:51.216 --> 00:20:55.153

our ability to perform and our mood throughout that day,

 

370

00:20:55.153 --> 00:20:58.557

more so than the sleep loss itself.

 

371

00:20:58.557 --> 00:21:01.927

Trying to change your mindset going into it and remembering you've

 

372

00:21:01.927 --> 00:21:04.730

been doing this once a week for a while, you're probably really good

 

373

00:21:04.730 --> 00:21:06.365

at getting through those days.

 

374

00:21:06.365 --> 00:21:09.968

That can just alleviate the pressure on yourself which will

 

375

00:21:09.968 --> 00:21:14.273

usually relay into better sleep.

 

376

00:21:14.273 --> 00:21:17.743

When you do have those off nights, if you can make time for

 

377

00:21:17.743 --> 00:21:21.213

a quick 30-minute nap during the

 

378

00:21:21.213 --> 00:21:24.850

days of short sleep can be really helpful to fill some of those

 

379

00:21:24.850 --> 00:21:29.187

gaps and make you feel better and easier to get through your day.

 

380

00:21:29.187 --> 00:21:33.058

Not worrying too much about that one night

 

381

00:21:33.058 --> 00:21:36.762

can be a good starting point, to

 

382

00:21:36.762 --> 00:21:40.332

not stress yourself out about it because you don't want your nervous

 

383

00:21:40.332 --> 00:21:43.602

system to learn that there is a problem.

 

384

00:21:43.602 --> 00:21:47.506

That's super helpful. Another question from our audience,

 

385

00:21:47.506 --> 00:21:50.509

what are your recommendations for someone who has a learning

 

386

00:21:50.509 --> 00:21:53.945

disability and has difficulty using a CPAP machine

 

387

00:21:53.945 --> 00:21:56.448

and having difficulty sleeping?

 

388

00:21:56.448 --> 00:21:58.283

What do you recommend?

 

389

00:21:58.283 --> 00:22:01.887

That's a really good question. Often what we see is

 

390

00:22:01.887 --> 00:22:05.390

there's problems with executive functioning, which is difficulty

 

391

00:22:05.424 --> 00:22:10.562

making the plan and then following the plan, executing it.

 

392

00:22:10.562 --> 00:22:13.632

With neurodivergence, learning disabilities, things like that,

 

393

00:22:13.632 --> 00:22:17.436

sometimes it is the executive dysfunction that can really

 

394

00:22:17.436 --> 00:22:22.341

prevent us from being successful with some of these treatments.

 

395

00:22:22.341 --> 00:22:25.844

On top of that, if you're neurodivergent and then you're sleep

 

396

00:22:25.844 --> 00:22:29.681

deprived it actually exaggerates all of those symptoms of executive

 

397

00:22:29.681 --> 00:22:33.518

dysfunction so it does kind of feel like you're in this vicious cycle

 

398

00:22:33.518 --> 00:22:37.155

of how will I ever get this?

 

399

00:22:37.155 --> 00:22:40.225

The good news is, if we can get you ahead with your sleep a little

 

400

00:22:40.225 --> 00:22:43.895

bit your executive function does improve and then everything

 

401

00:22:43.895 --> 00:22:47.132

gets a little easier.

 

402

00:22:47.132 --> 00:22:52.070

What you have to do for a lot of things, for CPAP especially because

 

403

00:22:52.070 --> 00:22:55.807

there's so many steps and you might have

 

404

00:22:55.807 --> 00:22:59.711

some sensory issues, is perseverance and

 

405

00:22:59.711 --> 00:23:03.281

pre-planning, having everything set up so you're not doing it

 

406

00:23:03.281 --> 00:23:06.585

when your executive function is at its lowest as you're trying to go

 

407

00:23:06.585 --> 00:23:08.086

to bed.

 

408

00:23:08.086 --> 00:23:12.023

Our decision making really down goes as the night goes on

 

409

00:23:12.023 --> 00:23:14.993

so trying to make those decisions earlier in the day to set yourself

 

410

00:23:14.993 --> 00:23:18.430

up for success later at night when we're a little bit more

 

411

00:23:18.430 --> 00:23:21.533

compromised is really helpful.

 

412

00:23:21.533 --> 00:23:25.070

And looking for specific sleep programs and

 

413

00:23:25.070 --> 00:23:29.241

adaptations specific to your learning disability.

 

414

00:23:29.241 --> 00:23:32.911

At SleepWorks we do a lot of modifications specifically for

 

415

00:23:32.911 --> 00:23:37.015

neurodivergent clients because it is hard to

 

416

00:23:37.015 --> 00:23:40.218

keep track of everything, stay on top of it when they're just trying

 

417

00:23:40.218 --> 00:23:43.155

to manage the symptoms of ADHD.

 

418

00:23:43.155 --> 00:23:46.858

Certainly breaking it down into the smaller

 

419

00:23:46.858 --> 00:23:50.595

chunks of when you are higher

 

420

00:23:50.595 --> 00:23:54.065

functioning that day can be really beneficial to set yourself

 

421

00:23:54.065 --> 00:23:57.169

up for success for a better night's sleep if you're struggling with

 

422

00:23:57.169 --> 00:23:58.503

CPAP.

 

423

00:23:58.503 --> 00:24:01.139

That's great. Thank you, Marlee. One more question from ouraudience,

 

424

00:24:01.139 --> 00:24:04.009

what are your thoughts on white noise?

 

425

00:24:04.009 --> 00:24:05.977

Can it help?

 

426

00:24:05.977 --> 00:24:09.548

Great question. I actually have a little travel white noise machine

 

427

00:24:09.548 --> 00:24:13.018

right here at my desk. I am a

 

428

00:24:13.018 --> 00:24:16.855

big proponent of using white noise brown noise, pink noise, there's

 

429

00:24:16.855 --> 00:24:19.257

green noise, all the different frequencies.

 

430

00:24:19.257 --> 00:24:22.928

Anecdotally

 

431

00:24:22.928 --> 00:24:27.032

some people prefer one frequency over the other, personally, I

 

432

00:24:27.032 --> 00:24:30.635

find that any kind of consistent sound,

 

433

00:24:30.635 --> 00:24:33.672

even if it's just the sound of your air conditioner or your fan in

 

434

00:24:33.672 --> 00:24:37.742

your room can really mitigate any of those intrusive sounds

 

435

00:24:37.742 --> 00:24:41.413

like traffic or neighbours or anything like that, house

 

436

00:24:41.413 --> 00:24:45.083

sounds, as our house makes noise, the furnace kicks in and

 

437

00:24:45.083 --> 00:24:47.486

could disrupt our sleep.

 

438

00:24:47.486 --> 00:24:51.389

Having something like white noise or fan noise just

 

439

00:24:51.389 --> 00:24:55.527

basically kind of silences out any of these little

 

440

00:24:55.527 --> 00:24:59.598

acute noises that can really pull us out of deep sleep.

 

441

00:24:59.598 --> 00:25:03.101

I'm an advocate for it because we live in

 

442

00:25:03.101 --> 00:25:06.905

a noisy society.

 

443

00:25:06.905 --> 00:25:10.542

As a takeaway for our viewers what is one thing they can do

 

444

00:25:10.542 --> 00:25:14.479

right now to help with their sleep?

 

445

00:25:14.479 --> 00:25:16.248

I want to go back to the cognitive behavioural therapy.

 

446

00:25:16.248 --> 00:25:19.684

I think the one thing that I want people

 

447

00:25:19.684 --> 00:25:23.522

to take away is having an

 

448

00:25:23.522 --> 00:25:27.359

appropriate level of concern for your sleep, not

 

449

00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:28.960

to downplay any problems.

 

450

00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:32.197

If it's affecting you in the way that you feel and function and

 

451

00:25:32.197 --> 00:25:36.234

affecting your health it's certainly worthwhile to address that,

 

452

00:25:36.234 --> 00:25:38.870

seek out help, get the supports, the resources that exist.

 

453

00:25:38.870 --> 00:25:42.507

Generally, we

 

454

00:25:42.507 --> 00:25:46.111

don't want to become obsessed with worrying about our sleep,

 

455

00:25:46.111 --> 00:25:49.447

worrying about our watch data, worrying about having one or two bad

 

456

00:25:49.447 --> 00:25:53.385

night's sleep. Really, if you haven't had chronic insomnia

 

457

00:25:53.385 --> 00:25:56.988

and you do have something that disrupts your sleep short term for

 

458

00:25:56.988 --> 00:26:00.458

a couple of days or maybe even a couple weeks, remembering

 

459

00:26:00.458 --> 00:26:03.929

that that situation can be temporary. We are

 

460

00:26:03.929 --> 00:26:06.965

meant to sleep, we're not broken, just sometimes things can get in

 

461

00:26:06.965 --> 00:26:10.402

the way and do not worry about it so it doesn't become this

 

462

00:26:10.402 --> 00:26:14.339

ingrained learned condition can help prevent chronic

 

463

00:26:14.339 --> 00:26:16.741

insomnia from taking hold.

 

464

00:26:16.741 --> 00:26:19.911

So appropriate levels of concern but you don't wanna spend all night

 

465

00:26:19.911 --> 00:26:21.046

worrying about it.

 

466

00:26:21.046 --> 00:26:23.481

I love that. Thank you so much, Marlee.

 

467

00:26:23.481 --> 00:26:26.985

For our viewers, if you have any more questions or if you

 

468

00:26:26.985 --> 00:26:30.255

want to learn more about Marlee and her program and her team at

 

469

00:26:30.255 --> 00:26:33.625

SleepWorks you can visit sleep-works.com.

 

470

00:26:33.625 --> 00:26:37.262

I know Friday, March 13th is World

 

471

00:26:37.262 --> 00:26:40.165

Sleep Day. Can you tell us a little bit more about that before we

 

472

00:26:40.165 --> 00:26:41.232

end?

 

473

00:26:41.232 --> 00:26:43.068

Yes, I'd love to.

 

474

00:26:43.068 --> 00:26:46.605

March 13th, Friday the 13th everyone, is World

 

475

00:26:46.605 --> 00:26:50.075

Sleep Day. This year the theme is Sleep

 

476

00:26:50.075 --> 00:26:54.346

Better, Live Better, or Sleep Well, Live better.

 

477

00:26:54.346 --> 00:26:58.049

For World Sleep Day SleepWorks is doing

 

478

00:26:58.049 --> 00:27:01.786

a promotion where you can access cognitive behavioural therapy

 

479

00:27:01.786 --> 00:27:04.489

for insomnia, just a self-guided program.

 

480

00:27:04.489 --> 00:27:07.993

Typically,

 

481

00:27:07.993 --> 00:27:11.796

there's a cost associated with it no matter where you go

 

482

00:27:11.796 --> 00:27:15.367

but SleepWorks likes to provide that on World Sleep Day for pay what

 

483

00:27:15.367 --> 00:27:19.137

you can. You can buy it for as cheap as a dollar on

 

484

00:27:19.137 --> 00:27:22.440

World Sleep Day so if you do want to check out what cognitive

 

485

00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:26.011

behavioural therapy for insomnia is, get a program

 

486

00:27:26.011 --> 00:27:29.481

without breaking the bank, it's

 

487

00:27:29.481 --> 00:27:32.417

very accessible on World Sleep Day through SleepWorks.

 

488

00:27:32.417 --> 00:27:36.421

It's just available on our website

 

489

00:27:36.421 --> 00:27:39.824

and it just gives everybody an opportunity to give it a taste without

 

490

00:27:39.824 --> 00:27:43.495

that huge financial investment to see is this gonna be the right

 

491

00:27:43.495 --> 00:27:45.230

type of program for me.

 

492

00:27:45.230 --> 00:27:48.433

It kind of gives everybody the opportunity to check it out.

 

493

00:27:48.433 --> 00:27:51.603

I love that. Thank you so much and thank you again for joining us

 

494

00:27:51.603 --> 00:27:53.538

today.

 

495

00:27:53.538 --> 00:27:56.107

Thank you so much for having me back, Jessie. It's always so fun.

 

496

00:27:56.107 --> 00:27:58.743

I hope everyone has a restful sleep tonight.

 

497

00:27:58.743 --> 00:27:59.744

We'll see you next time.

 

498

00:28:17.696 --> 00:28:22.000

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Fidelity Canada's The Upside podcast.

 

499

00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:25.770

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500

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