Cognitive Behavior Therapy may help against Insomnia

Posted on July 23, 2007 in Latest News

With about 70 million Americans suffering from Insomnia you can imagine what a serious public health issue Insomnia has become.

Professor Colin Espie, director of the Glasgow Sleep Centre at Glasgow University, said: “The biggest concern we have about it is the more we ignore insomnia as a problem the public are presenting needing help with, the more we run the risk of building up long-term mental health problems.”

But most people often shy away from visiting the doctor to cure Insomnia for the fear that it might cost them a fortune. Added to that is the cost of medication and other therapies.

Dr Michael Smith, spokesman for the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said: “Insomnia is a very common complaint that many people find difficult to manage. If there is a cost-effective alternative to medicines then that would be welcome.”

Besides the cost, the side effects of the medicines used to beat Insomnia risk a lot of other problems.

Shona Neil, chief executive of mental health charity SAMH, said: “I think we need to provide people with alternatives to drugs. GPs are getting much better at not prescribing sedatives generally because there are a number of problems with them, but very often if people are desperate and cannot get referred to any other source of help, there may be a temptation to rely on them.”

A study  published in research journal Sleep, leads insomniacs through a five-hour course of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) which significantly restricts the time people spend attempting to fall asleep.

These patients experienced more than a 30% improvement when it came to falling and remaining asleep, while a group of insomniacs who did not receive the program experienced no significant change.

Professor Espie said: “These kind of effects are at least as good or better than a sleeping pill when it is working at its best.” He explained the program worked by helping people allow sleep to occur naturally again. hat a good sleeper is often doing is resisting sleep and allowing it to be something that overtakes them, whereas bad sleepers try to evoke sleep, which encourages it to go away.”

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