Insomnia is the most common sleep illness in the world today. It can make it hard for people to fall asleep, stay asleep or cause them to wake up too early. BUT there is hope…
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s ICSD-3 manual, insomnia is defined as “persistent difficulty with sleep initiation, duration, consolidation, or quality”.
If you struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up for no good reason, it is important to talk to your doctor about your sleeping problem. It is also important to understand that effective treatment is available and that you don’t have to suffer from sleeplessness and the health & lifestyle complications it causes.
The most effective, long lasting way to treat insomnia is CBTi
How to Treat Insomnia
If you think you have insomnia, it is important to talk to your doctor about your sleeping problems. There are a few options available to treat insomnia:
- The first option for your doctor is to prescribe sleeping pills. This is depended on the type of insomnia you have. It may provide immediate relief, but it is usually not long-lasting.
- The second option is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I). CBT-I helps you overcome the underlying causes of your sleeping problems and it is long-lasting. CBTI is currently the gold standard of treating insomnia due to the high success rate experienced around the world
The Effectiveness of CBT-I
The American College of Sleep Physicians recommends that patients who suffer from insomnia receive CBT-I as first-line treatment. In many patients, CBT-I is more effective than sleep medication because the effects after treatment are long-lasting.
How CBT-I Works
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Insomnia focusses on the connection between the way we think about sleep, the things we do when we cannot sleep, and then how we sleep. It is important to remember that CBT-I is not sleep hygiene training. If you suffer from insomnia, sleep hygiene training alone will not work.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia is successful because it uses a multi-component treatment approach. Treatment usually consists of 6 weekly sessions pertaining to cognitive and behavioral educational components:
- Educational component: To beat insomnia it is very important to understand how sleep works from a neurological and physiological point of view. It is also important to understand the underlying causes of insomnia and how our brains tend to react when we suffer from insomnia.
- Behavioral component: Identifying and rectifying our behaviors regarding dealing with insomnia is another important component in the treatment process. This forms the bulk during therapy and a lot of time will be spent on this.
- Cognitive component: This component attempts to restructure change inaccurate or unhelpful thoughts about sleep.
In conclusion: Sleep plays an integral part in our overall health. It is not necessary to suffer from any sleep disorder. So, be the best you that you can be and look after your sleep health.