Aric Prather

Yeah, that's a really great question. The most common model for insomnia is called the 3P model. And so each P stands for a different part of the thing that leads to insomnia. And so there's the predisposition, right? There are some people that are kind of anxious folks and are more likely to have difficulty falling asleep.

These are the people that say, you know, my whole life I've been a bad sleeper. And then there is a precipitating factor. That's the second P. And usually that's some sort of stressor that happens out in the world and can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. And that's, of course, an adaptive response. I mean, we're built to kind of withstand lack of sleep to kind of get things done.

These are the people that say, you know, my whole life I've been a bad sleeper. And then there is a precipitating factor. That's the second P. And usually that's some sort of stressor that happens out in the world and can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. And that's, of course, an adaptive response. I mean, we're built to kind of withstand lack of sleep to kind of get things done.

These are the people that say, you know, my whole life I've been a bad sleeper. And then there is a precipitating factor. That's the second P. And usually that's some sort of stressor that happens out in the world and can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. And that's, of course, an adaptive response. I mean, we're built to kind of withstand lack of sleep to kind of get things done.

I mean, talk to any parent of a young child and certainly we can survive that. But then the final P is the perpetuating factors. And that is what is really ironic in how insomnia develops. Because what happens is that people tend to make a lot of choices that in the moment make a lot of sense.

I mean, talk to any parent of a young child and certainly we can survive that. But then the final P is the perpetuating factors. And that is what is really ironic in how insomnia develops. Because what happens is that people tend to make a lot of choices that in the moment make a lot of sense.

I mean, talk to any parent of a young child and certainly we can survive that. But then the final P is the perpetuating factors. And that is what is really ironic in how insomnia develops. Because what happens is that people tend to make a lot of choices that in the moment make a lot of sense.

You know, things like, you know, if I have a bad night of sleep, I'll try to make up for it by sleeping in a few extra hours in the morning, or I'll take a nap during the day, or I'll get in bed really early because I don't know when sleep's going to happen. And those types of things, though they make sense in the moment, actually undermine how sleep works naturally.

You know, things like, you know, if I have a bad night of sleep, I'll try to make up for it by sleeping in a few extra hours in the morning, or I'll take a nap during the day, or I'll get in bed really early because I don't know when sleep's going to happen. And those types of things, though they make sense in the moment, actually undermine how sleep works naturally.

You know, things like, you know, if I have a bad night of sleep, I'll try to make up for it by sleeping in a few extra hours in the morning, or I'll take a nap during the day, or I'll get in bed really early because I don't know when sleep's going to happen. And those types of things, though they make sense in the moment, actually undermine how sleep works naturally.

And then it kind of feeds forward. to becoming what we know is kind of chronic insomnia or insomnia disorder. Well, it's weird when you think about it because not sleeping isn't doing something.

And then it kind of feeds forward. to becoming what we know is kind of chronic insomnia or insomnia disorder. Well, it's weird when you think about it because not sleeping isn't doing something.

And then it kind of feeds forward. to becoming what we know is kind of chronic insomnia or insomnia disorder. Well, it's weird when you think about it because not sleeping isn't doing something.

Yeah. I mean, I think the unfortunate thing is like in the middle of the night when we're awake, it's not like our mind is filled with the best things happening in our life, right? It's not like, oh, how great is tomorrow going to be? Or this wonderful experience I've had. It's always these kind of negative things. It's things that like, you know, worries about what we're doing tomorrow.

Yeah. I mean, I think the unfortunate thing is like in the middle of the night when we're awake, it's not like our mind is filled with the best things happening in our life, right? It's not like, oh, how great is tomorrow going to be? Or this wonderful experience I've had. It's always these kind of negative things. It's things that like, you know, worries about what we're doing tomorrow.

Yeah. I mean, I think the unfortunate thing is like in the middle of the night when we're awake, it's not like our mind is filled with the best things happening in our life, right? It's not like, oh, how great is tomorrow going to be? Or this wonderful experience I've had. It's always these kind of negative things. It's things that like, you know, worries about what we're doing tomorrow.

you know, ruminations about things that you wish had gone differently. Or, you know, as you mentioned, worrying about the fact that you're not sleeping and like, what does that mean? What, you know, how are you going to feel tomorrow? What happens as the minutes tick by and you're still not asleep?

you know, ruminations about things that you wish had gone differently. Or, you know, as you mentioned, worrying about the fact that you're not sleeping and like, what does that mean? What, you know, how are you going to feel tomorrow? What happens as the minutes tick by and you're still not asleep?

you know, ruminations about things that you wish had gone differently. Or, you know, as you mentioned, worrying about the fact that you're not sleeping and like, what does that mean? What, you know, how are you going to feel tomorrow? What happens as the minutes tick by and you're still not asleep?

That really ramps up that anxiety that ramps up our stress response, which is incompatible with sleeping. And so it's often kind of a mixture of those sorts of things that happen when people are kind of in the quiet of the night and your brain kind of fills that vacuum of space with just busy, often negatively valence thoughts.