CBT as Effective for Sleep Problems as Medications Like Ambien

An article carried over at the American Psychological Association’s PsycPort highlights the growing use of sleeping medications such as Ambien (zolpidem) and points out that:

Americans are increasingly using a form of talk therapy to treat insomnia. Studies indicate that cognitive behavioral therapy, as this treatment is known, improves sleep about as well as drugs can.

As few as two 25-minute talk sessions can produce benefits that last many months, says Jack Edinger, a psychologist at Duke University. In contrast, medications’ effects are not known to endure after the pill use stops.

The article goes on, commenting on links between insomnia and depression:

Doctors and patients are increasingly aware of links between persistent insomnia and lost productivity, excess medical visits and the risk of depression, says psychologist Charles Morin of Laval University in Quebec.

Researchers have come to recognize that sleeplessness often endures for years if it is not tackled directly. “It commonly occurs with psychiatric and medical conditions, but it doesn’t always go away when you treat those conditions,” Buysse says.

To capitalize on the growing market, drug companies are developing new products. And they’re fanning demand through aggressive advertising.

Even so, “only a small minority of people who might benefit from treatment are getting it,” Buysse says. He has been paid to advise sleeping-pill manufacturers, but he says, “I wish that more people would find their way to behavioral treatments.”

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