Back when I was struggling with Insomnia. I went to a Doctor to tell him that I was struggling to go to sleep.
Doctor’s Approach
The doctor kept on asking 2-3 questions.
Do you have any bloating or acidity?
I said ‘No’ but sometimes because I did not sleep well I had this acidity issue.
Do you have any headaches before going to sleep?
But I did have a headache the next day because I was not sleeping.
Finally, the Doc gave me a prescription medicine and told me to use it for a month and see if this helped.
I do agree that I got better but then at the back of my mind, I was afraid that the issue would come back or not.
My Psychologist Approach
Contrast this with the approach my Psychologist took when I said I am struggling with Sleep Issues.
Psychologist: What was going on before you go to bed?
Me: I keep getting continuous thoughts about things that could go wrong.
Psychologist: Why do you think things can go wrong?
Me: Because it happened with my previous experience.
Psychologist: Can you explain it in detail?
Me: Yes sure the explanation went ahead.
Psychologist: Why do you think you behave the way you did?
Me: I do not know.
I hope you understand the contrast between the doctor’s approach to the psychologist’s.
Asking the right questions
The Doctor focused only on ‘What was wrong’. But then the psychologist focused on ‘What happened to You’.
This is the essence of the book ‘What Happened to You by Dr Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey.
“What is wrong with you” This takes care of the symptoms only and the solutions are never going to be long-lasting when it comes to sleep.
I know that the Doctors are under huge pressure to solve a lot of cases that are pending In a race to close the case and to address the long list of patients the Doctors also focus only on what is wrong with you and talk only about the symptoms. They give you a variant of medicines that can only help in the short run but are not for the long run.
So if you have trouble sleeping, focus on the solution.
Many sleep issues can be fixed when the right questions are asked.
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