SELF
Sleeping
It is quite common for insomniacs finally to turn to hypnosis as a
last resort, after trying most other things from counting sheep to
various medications. Now hypnosis can work well in such cases. But
when it does, it is based, in my case, on a clear understanding of the
particular pattern in a particular person. And I cannot see that,
given that understanding, hypnosis is necessary.
There are people who are not sleeping only because they are afraid
of not sleeping. There are others who are not sleeping because the
minute they lie down their brain starts to work hard on certain
worries. There are others whose minds are blank but their bodies are
not relaxed – perhaps just because they have had too little
exercise that day.
You see the point: there is one symptom, but very many possible
causes. The right way to get over the problem involves understanding
the cause in a particular case and matching it to a change that can be
made. In a particular woman the necessary change was just the plan of
getting up to do some washing up if she was not asleep in 15 minutes.
Since she did not like washing up, the thought itself brought a
feeling of tiredness over her, and this in turn led to sleep. She
very, very seldom had to get up to do the washing up.
Now I might never make that suggestion to another person. The art of
good advice is to know the right thing to say to each particular
person, taking into account the full situation and personality.
