There are sheep everywhere. Counting sheep, that is. TV commercials for mattresses have them, huge balloon’s shaped like sheep (accompanied by their counting number on the side!) are outside mattress stores, and just in case these new mattresses and good old sheep counting tactics don’t help you, there are over the counter sleeping pills to help you conk out.
But now, there is an actual lasting cure for insomnia that has crawled out from under the bed. It’s not a drug, it’s not a new Serta mattress, and it’s not even good old sheep counting.
CBT, or cognitive behavior therapy, is used to treat people with depression, panic attacks, eating disorders and addictions. It has been proved as an effective way to help insomniacs get sleep without the use of sleeping pills, since insomniacs also tend to have other underlying problems like high anxiety. The director of Sleep Centers at the University of Pennsylvania explains, “CBT works because it treats the core problem, not the symptom.”
CBT is a short-term treatment that has been proved to have lasting effects. In a report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, CBT was compared with the popular sleeping med Ambien. The results concluded that after patients stopped taking Ambien, the pills effects faded. However, after patients discontinued their cognitive behavior therapy, they were still sleeping soundly after a year!
The therapy works in two stages. First, there are usually eight 30-minute sessions with a sleep therapist. Through these sessions, patients learn why they are not sleeping through the night whether it is restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, or a medical condition. The second stage of CBT is called sleep hygiene. This involved basic things like avoiding caffeine, not napping, not exercising close to bedtime, and learning to relax before hitting the hay. Sleep hygiene works to reset your sleep-wake cycle.
Right now, awareness of CBT as an effective cure for insomnia is not too high. Most people are happy with their OTC pills, even though they leave morning side effects. The reasoning is because pills work quickly and are effective. However, CBT can change an insomniac’s life by teaching them how to get a good night’s sleep. It’s the best medication for getting a full nights sleep there will ever be.
