Trouble Getting to Sleep?


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Sleep is essential according to the American Psychological Association.

This professional group notes that “millions of people don’t get enough, resulting in such problems as daytime sleepiness, poor decision-making, interference with learning, and accidents.”

One study, using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), suggested that CBT can do a better job of reducing anxiety than sleeping pills.

Research Study on Cognitive Behavioral, Ambien, and Sleep from Archives of General Medicine, American Medical Association

The main points from this article are: (1) different groups of subjects received CBT, Ambien, or a placebo; (2) on most measures, CBT was the most-effective sleep intervention: it helped subjects get to sleep more quickly and yielded the greatest number of normal sleepers after treatment; and (3) the authors suggested that CBT can be a first-line intervention in young and middle-aged persons with sleep-onset insomnia.

Of course, since the study included only 63 persons, more scientific examination is required to see how effective CBT among people of other ages and members of different cultural groups.

More information on sleep can be obtained from:

Website of National Sleep Foundation


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