Lying in bed worrying about not being able to sleep should be avoided at all costs, a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine has claimed. The results of the experiment, conducted by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, were arrived at after surveying 79 adults. Over half of the participants were found to suffer from sleep problems. Researchers found that people who struggle fall asleep should not dwell on the the fact that they cannot sleep, since this awareness may only make the problem worse. Thomas Neylan, of the University of California, San Francisco, said about the study: ''A lot of insomniacs spend a lot of time lying in bed worrying about their sleep, among other things. They expect to have insomnia. ''If you’re not ready to fall asleep, do not lie down in bed and try to force yourself to sleep. And if you wake up in the middle of the night and do not fall back asleep easily, get out of bed . You do not want to have any linkage between the experience of lying in bed and being awake.'' However, the scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine warned that getting out of bed should only be a short-term solution to the problem, as serious disorders will need medical treatment.
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