Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep, or to stay asleep for an appropriate amount of time. It's a real condition, and it affects nearly half of Americans at some point or another1. While taking sleeping pills might seem like the simple solution for fighting insomnia, there might be an easier, more permanent way to tackle this sleep disorder that doesn't involve the drowsiness or chemicals of medication.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: an Insomnia Treatment
Just this month, a writer at the New York Times wrote a really interesting article about using cognitive behavioral therapy as an insomnia treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or C.B.T., is a treatment method that is associated with many psychological disorders. It involves examining how a patient's thoughts influence his or her behavior with the help of a therapist. By combating negative patterns of thought, CBT aims to improve the patient's mental health and lead to healthier behavior. Research has shown that this therapy can be more effective at treating insomnia than sleeping pills.
The Effectiveness of C.B.T.
One trial published in the Journal of the American Medical Association2 compared the effectiveness of using pharmaceuticals, C.B.T., or both to improve sleep. The study found that C.B.T. was more effective than the pills, and that people who underwent the behavioral therapy maintained healthy sleep patterns over a long time period. Another randomized clinical trial3 concluded that C.B.T. significantly outperformed sleeping pills as an insomnia treatment.
Yet another review4 measured the sleep metrics of several patients before and after undergoing C.B.T. and saw improvements in several categories. For instance, the time it took patients to fall asleep decreased by nearly 20 minutes, and their sleep efficiency, the percentage of time they spent asleep after going to bed, increased by nearly 10%. These positive improvements were sustained after the treatment had ended.
Why is C.B.T. so effective?
Insomnia is often a symptom of another problem, like stress or poor sleep habits. Taking sleeping pills makes the symptom go away by sedating you without treating the underlying issue. Cognitive behavioral therapy, on the other hand, fixes the core problem that's causing the insomnia. The result is that you can get healthy, natural sleep without the need to take medication at all.
How Does C.B.T. Work?
C.B.T. focuses on fixing perceptions, and altering the thoughts that lead to insomnia. For example, if you actively label a night of sleep as bad, then you're more likely to expect a bad day to follow it. This can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Additionally, by referring to a previous night's rest as poor, it makes you anxious to do better with the next night--and as we all know, anxiety and stress can ruin a would-be restful night!
Therapy breaks this cycle, and lets people take control of their sleep schedules again. Not only that, but it seems to do so without the need for medication.
Do you suffer from insomnia, or have you tried C.B.T.? What do you think of this mode of treatment? Share in the comments!
Sources:
1) National Sleep Foundation. Sleep Aids and Insomnia. 2) Charles M. Morin, PhD, et. al. "Behavioral and Pharmacological Therapies for Late-Life Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial". The Journal of the American Medical Association. 3) Gregg D. Jacobs, PhD, et. al. "Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Pharmacotherapy for Insomnia: A Randomized Controlled Trial and Direct Comparison". The Journal of the American Medical Association. 4) James M. Trauer, MBBS, et. al. "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis". Annals of Internal Medicine.
Photo Credit: Adapted from e-Magine art. "Pills 3". Creative Commons License.
