Say Good Night to Insomnia: The Six-Week, Drug-Free Program Developed at Harvard Medical School

by Gregg D. Jacobs

Book Overview

The bestselling guide to curing insomnia without drugs by "a pioneer" of the field, now updated with the latest research (The Wall Street Journal)

For the past 25 years, sleep-deprived Americans have found natural, drug-free relief from insomnia with the help of Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs's Say Good Night to Insomnia.

Jacobs's program, developed and tested at Harvard Medical School and based on cognitive behavioral therapy,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805089586
• ISBN13: 9780805089585
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Say goodnight to insomnia: it works!!

I used this book to overcome my sleep issues, and have bought it for several friends. All of us have used it to great success! My issue was basically I would fall asleep, then wake up later and ruminate. I would get annoyed that I wasn't sleeping and then ruminate on that too! This book is simple to follow, and has a very straightforward tone. My advice is to print out multiple copies of the sleep journal so you have them on hand for easy access. You will be using these daily for a few weeks. The one subtly that I found confusing is that the journal form for the 1st week is different from the one for the second week.

Excellent comprehensive program!

Jacobs does an excellent job of coherently outlining the causes of insomnia and barriers to sleep. He provides a concise outline of the physiology of sleep along with a nicely designed 6 week program to cure insomnia. Following this program will require some motivation--but if you are not sleeping then you should have some extra time to devote to eliminating insomnia. Of particular interest is the explanations for why sleeping pills don't work and actually make insomnia worse. There is a recommended program for weaning off of sleeping pills. Another important aspect of the program is learning to eliminate negative thoughts about sleep. Highly recommended!

I've slept since I read it.

I bought this book based on a recommendation from a February 22, 2005 article on Slate by Amanda Schaffer. If it wasn't for this recommendation, I'm not sure I would have kept reading after the first chapter. The book is full of exclamation points, oversimplification and glib promises. Very "self help"y. So why 5 stars? Because I have slept deeply all night every night since I read the book. I was coming off the worst bout of insomnia of my life...several weeks at 3 hours or less per night. I planned to start the first week of the program, a sleep diary, the next night I slept badly. It hasn't happened. For me, just having read the program and realizing the simple changes I could make seems to have done the trick. And if my sleep problems resume, I feel confident that pursuing the six week program faithfully would solve the problem. The author is condescending, overly perky, and seems to be writing for an IQ level of about 87. But if you have a serious insomnia problem, I recommend you get past the style and try out the substance. I'd read a lot more annoying books if I knew I'd sleep well afterward.

A life saver

I bought this book out of desperation. It seems that one day I suddenly lost ability to fall asleep. After several weeks spent virtually without sleep, I went to a doctor and got sleep medication, which worked well. However, I was unable to sleep without it and my husband and I wanted to have a second baby. Thus, I knew I would have to get off the medication; but when I tried to sleep without the pill, I couldn't fall asleep.Thank you to all the readers who have recommended this book and helped me choose the right one! As a result of following Dr. Jacobs' advice, I no longer need any medications and have no sleep-related problems. This was a great investment!This book can be helpful to anyone who would like to improve quality (or quantity) of his or her sleep.

An absolute must-buy for long-time insomnia sufferers!!

This book is wonderful--I finished it in 2 days! It is a very easy-to-read explanation of the physiology of sleep, why we lose it, and how we can get it back. The techniques Dr. Jacobs describes to stop insomnia are easy to follow (although they do take patience and persistence) and really make sense. And, best of all, this program works!!! I suffered from insomnia for over 16 years, and I never thought I would be free of endless days and nights worrying about sleep. To my amazement, the night following the day I started reading the book, I fell asleep within 10 minutes! Unheard of for me! And, I wasn't even employing any of the techniques suggested in the book yet. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to all insomniacs who suffer from constant anxiety about sleeping as I did, and wish you endless nights of restful sleep!

The best way to sleep better, guaranteed !!

I used to suffer from only slight but chronic insomnia, and when I got up in the mornings, I used to feel like I had been run over by a truck. I bought this book thinking that I've got nothing to lose except a few dollars. Yet after only a few days of following the expert advice contained in this book, my sleep improved "drastically", and I was finally able to function normally again during the day. This book has all the information you need in order to develop a healthy sleep pattern that will inevitably improve the quality of your life if not save it. If you depend on sleeping pills or tranquilizers to sleep, this book will show you how to get off them and to stay off them for good. Finally, I would recommend this book not only for the desperate insomniacs out there, but for EVERYONE, since it contains lots of useful and expert information that we ALL can use from time to time.