Definition - What does Sleep Restriction Therapy mean?
Sleep reduction therapy (SRT) is a self-help method to retrain one’s internal clock in order to reduce insomnia. An insomniac may spend eight hours in bed but enjoy only four hours of sleep. With SRT the person is only allowed to be in bed four hours prior to the need to get up and go to work or school. Once the four hour window of solid sleep is achieved, the time in bed can be expanded little by little.
SureHire explains Sleep Restriction Therapy
Sleep reduction therapy operates on the principles of habit formation. While, just like insomnia, the beginning of SRT can affect one’s work performance, the amount of sleep a person receives should soon increase and symptoms of fatigue will lessen. Experts say that the whole process from beginning of about four hours sleep to getting a good seven hours sleep should take about four weeks. Once the four hours is mastered, the subject can expand the time to four hours and 15 minutes. The goal is to go to bed at a certain hour and fall asleep right away. The goal is for the patient to fall asleep easily, remain asleep throughout the night, and then automatically wake up at the same time each morning feeling refreshed and ready to begin the day.
