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My brain won't shut up! Insomnia and the brain

Sleep psychologist Shelby Harris discusses why insomniacs can't get to sleep, even when (they think) they've accumulated a massive sleep debt. Help for insomnia can come with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which is shown to give longer-lasting results than sleeping pills.

I'd say a good 70-80% say that when they go to bed it's like the stereo's playing at 11 or 12 and they can't turn it down at all. So it makes it really hard for their body to downregulate . . . they'll toss and turn, they'll think more, they get frustrated and when that starts to happen you really don't sleep even more."

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