San Diego Psychologist, Specialist in Sleep, Trauma, & Behavioural Medicine

Dr. Freeman's Blog Posts

Illustration showing common cognitive distortions such as catastrophizing, personalization, mind reading, and all-or-nothing thinking that contribute to anxiety and insomnia.

How Cognitive Distortions Can Keep You Awake at Night

Cognitive distortions can keep you awake at night by turning normal worries into threats, mistakes into disasters, and wakefulness into panic. The body may be tired, but the mind stays active because it is interpreting thoughts as danger.

Many people with insomnia believe they have a sleep problem only. They

July 24, 2026

Calm notebook and pen on a desk representing cognitive distortions, anxiety, sleep, PTSD, and recovery

Cognitive Distortions: How Unhelpful Thinking Affects Sleep, Anxiety, PTSD, and Recovery

Yes, the way you think can make sleep, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and emotional distress worse. That does not mean your symptoms are your fault. It means that thoughts, emotions, physical symptoms, and behavior influence one another. When the mind gets stuck in fear-based or extreme thinking, the body often follows

July 13, 2026

Dr. Freeman's Articles on Sleep, Trauma, and Behavioral Medicine

Can Health Anxiety Cause Insomnia?

Why Insomnia Patients Become Obsessed With Fixing Sleep

Why Childhood Criticism Can Affect Adult Sleep

Why Successful Professionals Develop Severe Insomnia

How Cognitive Distortions Can Keep You Awake at Night

Can Perfectionism Cause Insomnia?

When Insomnia Is Not Really About Sleep

Can Anxiety Cause Chronic Insomnia?

Sleep Hypnosis vs CBT-I: What’s the Difference?

Cognitive Distortions: How Unhelpful Thinking Affects Sleep, Anxiety, PTSD, and Recovery

Can Sleep Hypnosis Help Insomnia?

Why Trauma Affects Sleep for Years

What Is Sleep Hypnosis?

EMDR for Trauma-Related Problems

EMDR and PTSD Recovery

Why Does My Mind Race at Night?

What to Expect During EMDR Therapy: Before, During, and After a Session

How EMDR Works

Sleep Anxiety and Insomnia: Why Fear of Not Sleeping Keeps You Awake

Why You Can’t Sleep Even When You’re Exhausted

Can Gut Health Affect Anxiety, Inflammation, and Sleep?

ADHD and Sleep: Why Children Have Sleep Problems and Bedtime Battles

Eleven Best Foods That Help You Sleep

What Is EMDR Therapy?

Can EMDR Help Reduce Nightmares?

Foods That Help You Sleep: What to Eat Before Bed

What Is Sleep Coaching and Can It Help You Sleep Better?

Why Can’t I Sleep When It’s Hot?

When Should You Seek Help for Insomnia?

Why Can’t I Put My Phone Down at Night?

Why Insomnia Often Becomes a Habit

Paradoxical Insomnia (Sleep State Misperception): Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

How CBT-I Treats Chronic Insomnia

Why Sleeping Pills Sometimes Stop Working

Finding a Sleep Therapist in San Diego

What Is CBT-I? A Complete Guide to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia

Why Do I Wake Up at 3 A.M. Every Night?

Why Can’t I Fall Asleep at Night? Causes and Remedies That Work

Can Sugar Keep You Awake? The Connection Between Sugar and Sleep

How Hypervigilance Causes Sleep Problems and Insomnia