Education no longer brings relief? Here's why

Hi there,

A very relevant topic came up in a recent conversation. It was about how learning about insomnia and recovery principles initially provided a lot of relief, but over time, that feeling wore off, and the same information didn’t seem to help anymore.

I’m going to share my thoughts here, and maybe it can be of value to you too.

The desire to get a boost of confidence, a sense of direction, and peace from educational sleep content is very understandable and common. While education can definitely provide that, relying on it too much can invite our brains to play tricks on us.

Education is incredibly helpful as a starting point for understanding our fears. However, its goal isn't to make you sleep, feel good or to avoid difficult emotions and experiences, but to help you understand them better and see them for what they are. Clarity about what’s going on helps us make better decisions that lead to long-term peace.

If you’ve been struggling with this, check if you’ve been using education to get rid of anxiety and ensure sleep. This is a common trap, and I’ve fallen into it several times.

When I noticed that education demystified my fears and I started feeling better, my brain concluded, "To feel good, read more of this!" When anxiety showed up, I’d turn to my “safety blanket” – binge-watching videos and reading articles to find that original spark.

But soon, its soothing effect wore off, and I no longer felt the same relief. It’s natural to think that education no longer “works” because it doesn’t calm us down. But the true reason is that our brain has tricked us into continuing to fight with anxiety and wakefulness. Instead of using soothing teas or other avoidance efforts, we turned education into a fighting tool.

This is similar to other things that “worked.” For example, we do something courageous, which gives us a great energy and confidence boost. We might choose to go for a run despite a sleepless night, and that “rebellious” feeling helps us see things differently, giving us our first aha-moments.

But then the brain thinks, "Aha, last time you did that courageous thing, you slept better. Let’s recreate that!" So it starts seeing that act as a way to avoid sleeplessness. This is why things seem to “stop working.”

It “worked” before because it was used despite insomnia, not to stop insomnia. This is a subtle difference, but recognizing it can help us see that we got stuck not because the principles “stopped working” on us, but because our brain tricked us into trying to control the outcome again. This happens from time to time.

But don’t worry: if this happens, and it does to many people on this path, we can get back on track! When we realize we’ve been feeding the cycle by trying not to experience certain feelings, we can revisit the basics and remember why we need to move towards the experience rather than away from it.

It’s still okay to watch educational content, read recovery books, and articles (perhaps in moderation), but this time, the objective isn’t to “feel good” from education, but to understand why it’s okay for anxiety and wakefulness to show up.

Feeling good and sleeping better is more of a side effect – sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t, and either way is okay. The objective is to change the way we think and respond to wakefulness and anxiety.

I hope this brings some value to you ❤️

Take care!

Ali