Treatments and supplements · Sleep restriction therapy

What is sleep restriction therapy and does it help insomnia?

What we can tell you today: how thoroughly this has been studied.

Well studied

3 studies, including 2 that bring together the results of several trials in people.

5 Repeated evidence 2 studies

3 Small study in people 1 study

This says how thoroughly something has been studied — not whether it works for you. What each study actually found is in the study itself, and in the plain-language write-ups we are adding.

Appears under: Sleep, energy and the brain

The studies

5 Repeated evidence How does sleep restriction therapy for insomnia work? A systematic review of mechanistic evidence and the introduction of the Triple-R model.
2019 · Sleep medicine reviews
5 Repeated evidence The effect of single-component sleep restriction therapy on depressive symptoms: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
2024 · Journal of sleep research · 1,102 participants
3 Small study in people Treating insomnia improves depression, maladaptive thinking, and hyperarousal in postmenopausal women: comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI), sleep restriction therapy, and sleep hygiene education.
2020 · Sleep medicine