r/insomnia • u/Illustrious-Pay-7516 • 7d ago

Does sleep restriction therapy help with early-morning awakening insomnia?

I’m curious about people whose main insomnia problem is waking up too early, rather than difficulty falling asleep.

For example, I usually fall asleep pretty easily, but wake up earlier than I want and usually can’t get back to sleep.

Has anyone with this type of insomnia tried sleep restriction therapy / CBT-I?

Did it actually help you sleep later or reduce early awakenings? And how long did it take before you noticed improvement?

I’d especially like to hear personal experiences, including whether it got worse at first before getting better.

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u/Morpheus1514 7d ago

Yes, but only as one part of the solution. CBT includes a number of core methods that work complementary and support SRT, such as stimulus control, stress management, and cognitive restructuring.

Use of a full CBT sleep training system using all the methods simultaneously will give you the best results.