Insomnia explained

Psychiatrist Milton Erickson recognized that insomnia is basically a sleep slump. Once insomniacs start thinking and worrying about their lack of sleep, they can no longer relax and enter the frame of mind needed to naturally drift off. In one famous case, Erickson advised an insomniac to get out of bed when he couldn’t sleep and meticulously scrub his kitchen floor with a toothbrush. Willing to try almost anything, the patient followed the therapist’s advice and promptly became so dulled by the tedious task that he dragged himself to bed for a good night’s sleep. The task broke the cycle in which thinking about sleeping interfered with the process of falling asleep.