I CAN'T SLEEP, MY MIND IS RACING! AN INVESTIGATION OF STRATEGIES OF THOUGHT CONTROL IN INSOMNIA Allison G. Harvey

Abstract

People with sleep-onset insomnia commonly attribute their difficulty falling asleep to intrusive thoughts, worries, or “a racing mind”. Previous research has implicated strategies of thought control in the maintenance of symptoms in a number of psychological disorders. The purpose of the present study was to compare individuals diagnosed with insomnia (n = 30) and good sleepers (n = 29) for the strategies employed to manage cognitive activity during the pre-sleep period. Reappraisal, worry, and suppression were employed more by participants with insomnia than by good sleepers. Good sleepers employed social control, replacement, suppression, and reappraisal strategies most frequently, whereas the strategies most frequently employed by insomniacs were suppression and reappraisal. The results are discussed in terms of the role of strategies employed to manage pre-sleep cognitive activity in the maintenance and reversal of insomnia.