This is an excellent book on insomnia, causes, and treatments. It covers a lot more material then another book I've read, "Say Goodnight to Insomnia", Jacobs. However, I do have one gripe with Hauri's instructions for stimulus control therapy. He says it's ok to stay in bed and read or watch TV until you get sleepy, as long as you don't have conditioned insomnia (i.e., the bed/bedroom causes you to become anxious and awake). Jacobs recommends that you don't use the bed for anything other than sleep or sex. That means no reading in bed, or watching TV in bed in order to get to sleep.

This is an excellent book that covers a broad range of reasons, and subsequent treatments, for insomnia. If read straight through, I imagine this book would be a bit cumbersome since it is so thorough. I found the technical information about sleep (in the introduction, but also scattered throughout various chapters where it applies) to be fascinating. But it is easy to skip to the parts that only concern you.

There are some detailed assessment quizzes, which I skipped because I had a definite idea of what was causing my insomnia (shift work, poor sleep habits, and anxiety.) But if you think there might be emotional, medical or other factors to your insomnia, the quizzes should point you in the right direction.

The advice on treatment is very interesting, not only because it seems to work, but because a lot of the ideas seem so counterintuitive (for example, if you have insomnia, spending LESS time in bed is probably a good idea. This is exactly opposite of what I was doing.) Chances are if you have insomnia, the things you are doing to help yourself sleep are probably only making it worse.

Some of the treatment ideas (particularly for improving 'sleep hygiene') might be difficult to implement at first, requiring some commitment and self-discipline, but the idea is to create a routine and good habits in the long run, so you'll be consistently getting good sleep for the rest of your life. Totally worth waking up at an hour you'd normally sleep through, or forcing yourself outside into the sunshine when you'd rather be napping.

After reading the book, for the past two nights I have actually fallen asleep within 30 minutes and slept soundly through the night. I am actually looking forward to implementing more of the treatment ideas, and I hope to kick this thing completely.

"No More Sleepless Nights" is a well-written, comprehensive, easily-read book about all the possible causes for the different kinds of insomnia, with very specific ideas about how to resolve or decrease the insomnia, depending upon the variety and the cause.


The possible causes discussed include: illness, medication, habits, diet, anxiety, depression, and environment. The author has really tried to catch every angle. The book tries to avoid sleeping pills, and medication in general, whenever possible and, in the few situations where the book advises you to consult a physician about medication, the goal is "as little as possible, as brief as possible."


My one, fairly minor, gripe about the book is that, early on, the author talks as if the book was going to present a detailed, step-by-step program for addressing insomnia (i.e., insomnia --> A --> B --> C --> D --> E --> no insomnia). Instead, it is more of a shotgun approach, necessitated by the different variants of insomnia and the many possible causes. At the end, the author again portrays the program has a single, sequential entity. I am not disputing the program, as I think the book does an excellent job of explaining insomnia and methods to address it. I am just nit-picking about the author portraying it as one thing (just in the first few pages and last few pages), when it is really a more varied and complex program, as it needs to be.

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The workbook contains most of the information from the textbook, but is redesigned to emphasize how to analyze the causes of insomnia and what to do about it. I liked this format even better than the textbook.

Dr. Hauri has provided us with a very comprehensive book on conquering insomnia. It is a must-read for insomniacs! The treatments for other sleep disorders are the same ones offered in other books that don't have good success rates but that is not what the main focus was of his book. He provides the reader with great information on all other types of sleep disorders that we don't find in too many other books. He ends it with Sleep Disorder Clinics. Great book.

Peter Hauri has written a book full of good information and practical steps you can take to end insomnia. Here are all the basics to improve your sleep. These include keeping a sleep log, sleep hygiene, relaxation and stress management. Diet and exercise are also addressed. There is some help for diagnosing the sleep problem so that proper treatment is obtained. He addresses narcolepsy, sleep apnea, sleep terrors and other sleep disorders. Sleep problems increase around midlife and can be a function of emotional and stress issues, as the author of Women's Midlife Workbook, I have worked with many women who can use help for sleep at midlife and would find this book useful.