Musings from the Mundane

Why not write and pass on this simple mundane life?

20040928

Lunchtime Insomnia

I saw this on the internet today at lunch:

This May Be the Best Cure for Insomnia
Throw away those sleeping pills. Start talking instead. When it comes to chronic insomnia, there is more relief found from a few hours of psychological counseling than from sleeping pills, especially in the long run, Reuters reports of a new study from researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

"You don't have to live with insomnia, and the most effective treatments are non-drug," lead study author Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs told Reuters. Although the study was small, the findings are promising--and fascinating. The counseling must be in the form of cognitive behavioral therapy, which tries to change people's thoughts and behaviors regarding sleep by addressing the root cause of a person's insomnia. Best of all, this is a permanent solution, unlike sleeping pills that can only be used for a short time since patients can develop a tolerance for them or a dependence upon them. The therapy teaches practical ways to fall asleep, such as only going to bed when you are sleepy.

The study: Sixty-three young and middle-age adults with chronic insomnia were randomly assigned to one of four groups. One group was given Ambien, a popular sleeping pill for six weeks with doses tapered off for the last two weeks. A second group was given cognitive behavioral therapy five times for six weeks for a total time of 2-1/2 hours. A third group had a combination of the two treatments, while a control group was given placebo pills.

The results after six weeks:--57 percent of those who had the cognitive behavioral therapy fell asleep within the normal range of 30 minutes.--46 percent of those who were in the combination group also fell asleep within 30 minutes.--15 percent of those on drug treatment were able to fall asleep within 30 minutes, which was similar to the number who received the placebo.--Those who took Ambien did sleep easier during the treatment, but once the drug was stopped so did the benefits.--One year later, patients who had improved with cognitive behavior therapy were generally still falling asleep faster. It was more effective than the sleeping pill.

The study findings were reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Makes sense to me, most of the nights when I can't sleep I've got a ton of sh*t on my mind. (Of course, sometimes when I've got even more than a ton on my mind all I want to do is sleep....I think that might be brain overload though). The moral of the article (as interpreted by someone who has never taken a Psychology class); chill out and sleep better.

Oh my lawd! Garfield Crook's nosey pike Cat an' Mouse closin' is gonna be around Oct. 10!! Lumme!

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