It's so common among people who complain of insomnia that sleep-disorder clinics report fully half oi all people who can't sleep only think they can't. This is called sleep-state misperception, or subjective insomnia. Experiments have shown that individuals who have sleep problems often think that they have slept much less than they actually have, based on their EEG and polygraph measurements. You may already have done so many times without even knowing it. For example, despite the fact that you can't force yourself to fall asleep, you may be able to trick yourself into it. This peculiar phenomenon of subjective insomnia is one of the easiest sleep disorders to treat. While the insomniacs did experience more wake-ups during the night than the control group, the disparity was nowhere near as great as they imagined: five and three-quarter hours of sleep compared with six and a half for the controls. According to the lab instruments, however, they dozed off in only fifteen minutes. After several nights in the sleep lab, the insomniacs reported that it took them an average of one hour to fall asleep. Two self-described mild insomniacs were compared with a control group of thirty-two normal sleepers, matched for age, sex, and other characteristics. A study at the University of Chicago documents this phenomenon.

People who believe they were unable to close their eyes all night were actually asleep much of the time! These delusions are present even regarding the details of a sleeper's misery. You may be getting considerably more sleep than you think you are, or a great deal less. People are notoriously inaccurate judges of their own sleep behavior. The mere act of remaining motionless with your eyes closed, even if you're feeling anxious or restless, actually provides the body with significant benefits.