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End the Insomnia Struggle Lib/E: A Step-By-Step Guide to Help You Get to Sleep and Stay Asleep
Insomnia is all too common in our modern culture, and can be devastating to your mental and physical health. Packed with research-based strategies and practical tools, this fully customizable book will show anyone who suffers with insomnia how to get a good night’s sleep—night after night—for a better life. Everyone struggles with sleep from time to time, but when sleepless nights and overtired days become the norm, your well-being is compromised, and frustration and worry increase—including concerns about what’s stopping you from getting the sleep you need, and what can be done about it. So, how do you stop the cycle of relentless worries and restless nights? End the Insomnia Struggle offers a comprehensive, medication-free program that can be individually tailored for anyone who struggles with insomnia. Integrating the physiology of sleep, and proven-effective approaches from cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), this book provides step-by-step guidance for developing your own treatment plan according to your particular challenges with insomnia. With this book, you’ll have everything you need to overcome the relentless thoughts, ruminations, and stress of insomnia. Utilizing these evidence-based strategies and easy-to-use tools, you’ll finally get to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up rested and ready to face the world as your best self, day after day.
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First published October 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 17, 2016
Considering it is 5AM and sleep eludes me is not a surprise that when this book was offered in exchange for an honest review I took it up.
What I liked most about this book is that the authors are psychologists, and the methods they share belong to this field. It is an easy and comprehensive read, full of examples and explanations for a better understanding. Also, it offers guidance about creating a sleep log, followed by explanations of different causes and reasons for insomnia as well as procedures to help "fix" the problem.
I enjoyed how this book keeps an eye on you, so to speak, encouraging you to find and try the method/s and technique/s best suited to your particular brand of insomnia; providing ways, alternatives and so on.
Is written in a way which makes it easy to follow and with a language everyone can grasp (instead of falling into complicated language, or with lots of citations, etc), offering lots of knowledge to the reader.
What I liked most about this book is that the authors are psychologists, and the methods they share belong to this field. It is an easy and comprehensive read, full of examples and explanations for a better understanding. Also, it offers guidance about creating a sleep log, followed by explanations of different causes and reasons for insomnia as well as procedures to help "fix" the problem.
I enjoyed how this book keeps an eye on you, so to speak, encouraging you to find and try the method/s and technique/s best suited to your particular brand of insomnia; providing ways, alternatives and so on.
Is written in a way which makes it easy to follow and with a language everyone can grasp (instead of falling into complicated language, or with lots of citations, etc), offering lots of knowledge to the reader.
July 2, 2016
This book is very insightful and really delves into insomnia from many different angles. The first part encourages you to keep a sleep log that is hand written for two weeks. Although skeptical at first, I found this to be very helpful in the long run. I got many insights into my sleep patterns by doing this intense study. After the sleep log, a few different mwtgids for changing your struggle with insomnia are offered. You can read all the ideas as I decided to do or skip to the method you found most helpful. Although it hasn't been long enough for me to know if my method will work, I really gained a lot of knowledge from the book and will definitely refer back to it in the future.
January 31, 2025
A lot of the information in this book wasn’t exactly new to me, but that actually reassured me - because these are the same methods and strategies I came across in therapy. Everything is well thought out, and the book is designed to be something you work with rather than just read. As the book presents different scenarios, you are able to tailor your plan to your own situation.
The book starts by having you look at your current sleep situation. You will be required to log your sleep, and use that data to build a personalized treatment plan. The focus is a mix of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), with methods like SRT (Sleep Restriction Therapy) and SCT (Stimulus Control Therapy). These, along with sleep hygiene, fall under behavioral changes. The authors make it clear that while sleep hygiene is included for completeness, it's not enough on its own to beat insomnia.
Then, we go into cognitive strategies, such as cognitive restructuring (recognizing unhelpful and distorted thoughts, e.g. turning "I'll never sleep again!" into "I might not sleep tonight, but I will sleep in the future."), designated worry time (I did this one in therapy for GAD, and it helped a lot), mindfulness, and cognitive defusion (learning to observe thoughts from a detached POV).
From my *personal experience* with insomnia, this book covers pretty much everything I could think of. It's one of the best self-help books I've read, thanks to its many tangible examples and workbook-style approach. It also touches on sleep issues caused by different factors, like circadian rhythm disorders or menopause.
That said, I'm taking one star off because the book could've been shorter. It gets repetitive at times, with over-explanations that feel like they're written for skeptical or resistant clients. There is almost an urgency to it which makes it feel like the authors are afraid you won't listen.
Still, I really appreciate this book for being a solid collection of vetted therapy-based strategies. It's a great resource to have on hand, and for me, it's a helpful guide to get back on track after falling off my own sleep program.
It's important to note that this isn't just a book with general tips to improve your sleep. It's meant to help you build a treatment plan, much like you would with a therapist. Whether you're new to this information or not, it's a valuable guide, and from experience, I know at least some of these methods worked for me.
The book starts by having you look at your current sleep situation. You will be required to log your sleep, and use that data to build a personalized treatment plan. The focus is a mix of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), with methods like SRT (Sleep Restriction Therapy) and SCT (Stimulus Control Therapy). These, along with sleep hygiene, fall under behavioral changes. The authors make it clear that while sleep hygiene is included for completeness, it's not enough on its own to beat insomnia.
Then, we go into cognitive strategies, such as cognitive restructuring (recognizing unhelpful and distorted thoughts, e.g. turning "I'll never sleep again!" into "I might not sleep tonight, but I will sleep in the future."), designated worry time (I did this one in therapy for GAD, and it helped a lot), mindfulness, and cognitive defusion (learning to observe thoughts from a detached POV).
From my *personal experience* with insomnia, this book covers pretty much everything I could think of. It's one of the best self-help books I've read, thanks to its many tangible examples and workbook-style approach. It also touches on sleep issues caused by different factors, like circadian rhythm disorders or menopause.
That said, I'm taking one star off because the book could've been shorter. It gets repetitive at times, with over-explanations that feel like they're written for skeptical or resistant clients. There is almost an urgency to it which makes it feel like the authors are afraid you won't listen.
Still, I really appreciate this book for being a solid collection of vetted therapy-based strategies. It's a great resource to have on hand, and for me, it's a helpful guide to get back on track after falling off my own sleep program.
It's important to note that this isn't just a book with general tips to improve your sleep. It's meant to help you build a treatment plan, much like you would with a therapist. Whether you're new to this information or not, it's a valuable guide, and from experience, I know at least some of these methods worked for me.
September 2, 2017
About the book: End the Insomnia Struggle (2016) is a guide to getting a good night’s sleep. The book is full of practical advice on how to handle sleeplessness. It explains, among other things, how to track your sleep problems, understand the science of insomnia and apply a variety of strategies that’ll help you get the rest you need.
About the authors: Colleen Ehrnstrom has a PhD in psychology, who currently works at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in Denver, Colorado where she specializes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as well as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Alisha L. Brosse also holds a PhD in psychology and is a licensed clinical psychologist who likewise specializes in ACT and CBT. She serves as an associate director of the Robert D. Sutherland Center for the Evaluation and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder at the University of Colorado.
My highlights:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Maintaining healthy sleep patterns is a team effort between two distinct biological processes. sleep drive, which regulates our sleeping and waking hours.
The internal body clock. This biological timer helps maintain a cyclical rhythm based on night and day, which regulates our sleep.It accomplishes this incredible feat by adjusting the temperature of the body, impacting the nervous system and producing the sleep-related hormones cortisol and melatonin
Two mechanisms need to work in close collaboration; if one falls out of sync,
There’s no set treatment for insomnia, but keeping track of your sleep helps. log all the information that might be relevant to your quality of sleep during the coming night. You can include things like what you ate that day, if you took a nap or anything else that feels relevant.
Your bed should be used for nothing but sleep, and it’s important to get up if you’re having trouble dozing off. if you wake up at night and can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get out of bed, go to a different room and do something that’s either relaxing or boring.
Reading by a dim light without using any screens
Only get back into bed when sleepiness returns and stick to your designated sleep schedule. stay out of your bed until the urge to sleep really hits
Wake up at a consistent time every day
Set a specific time to be in bed and one at which you’ll wake up.
Fixed wake-up time encourages a regular rhythm of wake and sleep, which increases the quality of sleep and reduces daytime fatigue.
Protect your sleep from worries by putting them off for another time. begin by setting a designated worry time that’s more convenient than bedtime.
About the authors: Colleen Ehrnstrom has a PhD in psychology, who currently works at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in Denver, Colorado where she specializes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as well as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Alisha L. Brosse also holds a PhD in psychology and is a licensed clinical psychologist who likewise specializes in ACT and CBT. She serves as an associate director of the Robert D. Sutherland Center for the Evaluation and Treatment of Bipolar Disorder at the University of Colorado.
My highlights:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Maintaining healthy sleep patterns is a team effort between two distinct biological processes. sleep drive, which regulates our sleeping and waking hours.
The internal body clock. This biological timer helps maintain a cyclical rhythm based on night and day, which regulates our sleep.It accomplishes this incredible feat by adjusting the temperature of the body, impacting the nervous system and producing the sleep-related hormones cortisol and melatonin
Two mechanisms need to work in close collaboration; if one falls out of sync,
There’s no set treatment for insomnia, but keeping track of your sleep helps. log all the information that might be relevant to your quality of sleep during the coming night. You can include things like what you ate that day, if you took a nap or anything else that feels relevant.
Your bed should be used for nothing but sleep, and it’s important to get up if you’re having trouble dozing off. if you wake up at night and can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get out of bed, go to a different room and do something that’s either relaxing or boring.
Reading by a dim light without using any screens
Only get back into bed when sleepiness returns and stick to your designated sleep schedule. stay out of your bed until the urge to sleep really hits
Wake up at a consistent time every day
Set a specific time to be in bed and one at which you’ll wake up.
Fixed wake-up time encourages a regular rhythm of wake and sleep, which increases the quality of sleep and reduces daytime fatigue.
Protect your sleep from worries by putting them off for another time. begin by setting a designated worry time that’s more convenient than bedtime.
August 10, 2022
The first book I've read about insomnia that goes way beyond good sleep habits. This gives you a lot of things to try. Highly recommended for the sleep deprived.
March 6, 2018
Provides a specific CBT-I regimen to follow. Supportive tone.
June 7, 2022
If you’re new to researching your sleep problems, and aren’t yet familiar with CBT-I, this is probably as good an introduction as any. You’ll get some solid ideas to try, and unlike other insomnia books, the steps to follow are laid out in precise detail, so you won’t have that experience of finishing a book overwhelmed with information that you’re not sure what to do with.
If you’ve been on the insomnia-solving mission for awhile, though, and are picking this one up in another attempt to pin down that magic bullet at last, maybe, hopefully, dear God please- I’m sorry. Read The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping by Samantha Harvey or Insomniac by Gayle Greene instead- they don’t have the magic bullet either, but you will feel deeply understood, which is as much relief as some of us can hope for.
I’d give this one 4 stars because I think much of the information will be new to most people reading it and it’s really well organized for actionability; however, I came to find the tone rather off-putting. The authors seem to assume you’ll want to fight them on what they’re suggesting, and talk to you rather like a recalcitrant child at times. They also seem to have a strange beef with contractions, which is a criticism I’ve never had for any book before. It makes for awkward-sounding sentences.
If you’ve been on the insomnia-solving mission for awhile, though, and are picking this one up in another attempt to pin down that magic bullet at last, maybe, hopefully, dear God please- I’m sorry. Read The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping by Samantha Harvey or Insomniac by Gayle Greene instead- they don’t have the magic bullet either, but you will feel deeply understood, which is as much relief as some of us can hope for.
I’d give this one 4 stars because I think much of the information will be new to most people reading it and it’s really well organized for actionability; however, I came to find the tone rather off-putting. The authors seem to assume you’ll want to fight them on what they’re suggesting, and talk to you rather like a recalcitrant child at times. They also seem to have a strange beef with contractions, which is a criticism I’ve never had for any book before. It makes for awkward-sounding sentences.
April 11, 2019
I am very impressed by this book. It treats people as if they are unique, which of course they are - so many self help books treat people as if they all are like the writer. The book offers a menu of items you can pick from and combine, it tells you how to implement them, what you may find hard, and how to deal with that, and also, amazingly, has suggestions for negative thoughts about getting better, or making yourself do things you don't want to. Some of the suggested work pages amazed me, as they could be used for so much more than the goal of sleeping well. I really enjoyed this book, I bought my Mum a copy, and I think I shall be dipping into it again.
August 2, 2021
My best friend in high school had insomnia and I just didn't understand it. He would be tired all day but never be able to sleep at night. It wasn't until later in life that I started to exhibit some of these same issues. I would have such a hard time getting to sleep and would find my "third wind" right as I was laying down for the night. Although I enjoyed the read I have either been too lazy or two stubborn to try anything other than the sleep log. I also got a sleep number that tracks my sleeping so that helped as well. I would certainly recommend this book for anyone that struggles with insomnia.
April 14, 2021
- Bed should only be reserve for sleep and nothing else
- If you're not sleepy, avoid using bed and get up and do something else
- Stick with a sleeping routine
- Avoid negative feedback thinking (I didn't sleep at all last night: false, you must have even - you probably just had a bad quality sleep)
- Designate a specific time to worry rather than worrying during sleep
- If you're not sleepy, avoid using bed and get up and do something else
- Stick with a sleeping routine
- Avoid negative feedback thinking (I didn't sleep at all last night: false, you must have even - you probably just had a bad quality sleep)
- Designate a specific time to worry rather than worrying during sleep
October 18, 2019
I did find this helpful although I already was familiar with some of it's guidelines. I do think it will continue to get better if I continue to work at it. I still have problems following the program consistently but I am improving.
April 16, 2020
Thanks to #Blinkist.
Good book. Acknowledged that insomnia is a complex topic!
I learnt about the various CBT-I methods to tackle the various insomnia types. Interesting read and recommended for those needing to understand insomnia and Cognitive Behavior Therapy as a form of treatment.
Good book. Acknowledged that insomnia is a complex topic!
I learnt about the various CBT-I methods to tackle the various insomnia types. Interesting read and recommended for those needing to understand insomnia and Cognitive Behavior Therapy as a form of treatment.
October 10, 2020
If you can stick to what the book recommends, it has very clear instructions on how you can iteratively move towards better sleep. It also teaches you to think about sleep more holistically (your habits, your environment, etc. all can and WILL affect sleep)
July 9, 2017
Good coverage of topic. Lots of good ideas.
August 1, 2017
Helped me to recognize that I don't have insomnia. I just have never slept a lot.
February 11, 2018
Nothing I didn’t already know. Still don’t sleep.
July 15, 2018
Some of the recommendations are useful but, I think I could have gotten most tips from the internet.
July 23, 2018
(Sum) Very helpful, especially with my daily life management of worrying, so I can free myself totally in mind when lying down the bed.
December 29, 2019
Just the right combination of structure and flexibility to help one take all the sleep hygiene approaches and formulate a personal plan that helps.
July 8, 2024
honk shoo mimimi honk shoo mimmi
February 25, 2025
Overall an helpful book on a very effective insomnia treatment aiming to make a much needed treatment more accessible.
Want to read
May 5, 2025616.8498 EH89E
December 10, 2021
I cannot praise this book highly enough. It works. Period.
Want to read
December 20, 2016It had very good information. I loved it. It was helpful for me too read
November 3, 2016
This book offers a refreshing take on the frustrating problem of insomnia. In a friendly, conversational, and non-condescending tone, the authors set forth practical techniques for conquering insomnia. They stress flexibility, and understand that solutions cannot be one-size-fits-all. They explain the reasoning behind the techniques suggested, and provide advice on adjusting these techniques to fit one's personal lifestyle. As professional psychologists who work with those suffering from sleep problems, the authors are able to cite numerous specific examples of people who have used their techniques and how they have worked. The book provides worksheets that help the sufferer work with his/her sleep problems. For anyone with a sleep disorder, this book is a welcome aid.
July 2, 2016
I was given a copy of this book from netgalley.
This was the first book I’ve read about insomnia, but I have read various articles with tips on how to sleep better. The articles I’ve read in the past gave superficial information without explaining how sleep could be improved with their advice. In this book the authors really go into detail and explain to us how we can try to fix our sleeping patterns and how it works. I’m most interested in trying out “designated worry time” I think that will help me most. I think this is a good read if you’re having trouble sleeping.
This was the first book I’ve read about insomnia, but I have read various articles with tips on how to sleep better. The articles I’ve read in the past gave superficial information without explaining how sleep could be improved with their advice. In this book the authors really go into detail and explain to us how we can try to fix our sleeping patterns and how it works. I’m most interested in trying out “designated worry time” I think that will help me most. I think this is a good read if you’re having trouble sleeping.
April 6, 2018
Could literally be a life saver
This is the perfect book for anyone struggling with insomnia or with a friend or family member who suffers from insomnia.
Whether you can't get to sleep, you can't stay asleep, or you just can't sleep deeply, the authors provide a highly functional blend of cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia bolstered by acceptance and commitment therapy. The combination is highly effective and easy to understand.
This is the perfect book for anyone struggling with insomnia or with a friend or family member who suffers from insomnia.
Whether you can't get to sleep, you can't stay asleep, or you just can't sleep deeply, the authors provide a highly functional blend of cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia bolstered by acceptance and commitment therapy. The combination is highly effective and easy to understand.
November 28, 2016
I won a copy of this book.
I could see this book being helpful to someone who suffers from insomnia. There are plenty good ideas in the book to help one with overcoming insomnia. There are worksheets to fill out and Ehrnstrom asks that one writes down details 2 times a day (morning after waking and evening, before bed).
I could see this book being helpful to someone who suffers from insomnia. There are plenty good ideas in the book to help one with overcoming insomnia. There are worksheets to fill out and Ehrnstrom asks that one writes down details 2 times a day (morning after waking and evening, before bed).
November 18, 2016
Very interesting and informative. It was easy to understand. Pleasant dreams.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews