A recent experiment suggests that people with insomnia who receive a digitized version of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as part of their treatment may find more symptom relief than those who only receive tips to improve their sleep routines.
According to Reuters, researchers randomly assigned 1,700 insomnia patients to receive either digital CBT or so-called sleep hygiene education designed to improve bedtime routines and encourage avoidance of substances like caffeine and alcohol that can interfere with sleep.
The CBT group used the online Sleepio program and an associated iOS app, which offered a series of 20-minute therapy sessions that people could access for up to 12 weeks.
Patients reported more improvement in their insomnia symptoms after four, eight and 24 weeks with digital CBT than they did with sleep hygiene education, the study team reports in JAMA Psychiatry.
Lead study author Colin Espie, a co-founder of Sleepio developer Big Health said: "This new study indicates that digital CBT can help insomnia sufferers achieve not just better sleep, but better overall health and quality of life. It also underscores previous findings that better sleep contributes to better mental health."
CBT can train people to use techniques that address the mental (or cognitive) factors associated with insomnia, and to overcome the worry and other negative emotions that often accompany inability to sleep.
CBT can also help people with poor sleep establish a healthy bedtime routine and improve sleep patterns, previous research has found.
