Listen to the podcast episode (audio only)

Ann is a college professor from New York City who had been struggling with sleep for over 30 years and got great results using cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques.

In this episode, Ann describes how her sleep issues began, all the ways she tried to improve her sleep without success, and how she finally managed to get her sleep back on track. I think many people with chronic insomnia will recognize Ann's struggles with sleep — and the good news is, of course, that since CBT-I techniques worked for Ann, it's very likely they'll work for you, too.

Click here for a full transcript of this episode.Click here to hide the transcript.

Martin Reed: Welcome to The Insomnia Coach Podcast. My name is Martin Reed. I believe that nobody needs to live with chronic insomnia and that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) techniques can help you enjoy better sleep for the rest of your life.

Martin Reed: Okay, so I'm here with Ann Vigo who went through my online coaching course, I think it was around seven months ago now. Ann is a college professor in New York City, I believe. So thanks for for joining me today, Ann.

Ann Vigo: Of course, thanks for having me on.

Martin Reed: So, this is great to have you. Can you tell me a little bit more about like the start of your sleep issues? When did it start and how did it start for you?

Ann Vigo: For me, it started with gaining independence. I never went through sleep issues in college, I was kind of happy in my scholastic world and my ivory tower. And then when it came time to finding a real job, dealing with independence, those were like big issues for me, finding a career I really liked because my studies really didn't translate to really a practical job. I don't think I was very practical. So I had to deal with a lot of reality facing and growing up really, growing up becoming an adult. And these were like struggles for me.

Ann Vigo: And another part of my struggle was a social phobia, where I had kind of isolated myself for a lot of my growing up years, like really formative years, and I didn't have the social connections I should have. So then when it came time to really be out there and to function in life, to function in a career, you need to have a network to have friends, and all this which was natural to most people for me wasn't really like something I was so comfortable with. I had to learn it. So I would have sometimes, I would have this anticipatory anxiety the night before, like before I would meet someone, a friend even. And then I would start obsessing about sleep. So, that was also part of it. So it was quite significant for me, a big obstacle.

Martin Reed: And so, did you did you tend to find that it would start off as you just have one or two bad nights or was it kind of like, bam, it just hit you, you just suddenly have this string of bad nights all in a row?

Ann Vigo: I think it would kind of hit me now and then when I would realize like I'm not happy, I don't have a career path, I feel a little loss, I don't feel comfortable being independent. I would try to forget about it and just kind of go about doing my job. But then now and then I would step back and look at the bigger picture like as a young adult in my 20s and I'd say like, where am I going, I feel very lost. And then I would kind of panic and then that would sort of trigger my anxieties. And then I would fall into negative sleep patterns. My thinking, of course, would affect my sleep, you know, when you feel really hopeless, then I think I would fall into a depression.