Behavior & Drug Therapy for Insomnia
Behavior & Drug Therapy for Insomnia
Those who suffer from insomnia, an inability to fall asleep and/or
stay asleep, experience successes and failures from different therapies.
One such therapy is called Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). It is
based on the idea that how we think (cognition) affects the way we feel
and behave. A practical example is teaching a person to reject false ideas
such as everyone needing 8 hours of sleep every night. Another facet of
CBT involves specific treatment do’s and dont’s of how to get a good
night’s sleep. An example is to have the person only go to bed at the
moment they think they can fall asleep.
A study published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American
Medical Association evaluated the short term (6 weeks) and long term
effects of CBT and a sleep medication called zolpidem (Ambien) in those
with persistent sleep problems. It was found that in the short term, adding
zolpidem (10 mg at bedtime) to CBT helped in the time it took a person to
fall asleep or reduce their awake time after they fell asleep. The best
therapy was a combination of the two approaches at the beginning, followed
by just CBT for the long term.