Oliver is a 63-year-old electrical engineer who retired just a few months before the pandemic hit. Although Oliver lived alone, he had filled his life with interesting friends from around the world. Oliver was an avid birder and had planned to spend his retirement years traveling with fellow birders and photographing and building his catalog of bird sightings. The Covid-19 pandemic changed everything. Although Oliver suffered with intermittent insomnia over the years, these episodes typically resolved within a few weeks because he was able to maintain his sleep habits and daily routines. This time, however, Oliver’s insomnia lingered as the pandemic disrupted these habits and routines. Week after week, Oliver’s sleep difficulties worsened.
Two body systems influence our sleep: the sleep-wake homeostasis and the circadian biological clock. Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) includes interventions that target these two systems in order to re-regulate the sleep system. We made four changes that influenced these systems and corrected Oliver’s insomnia. . .
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