Word: sleep
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...despite our best efforts, about 10% of Americans still suffer from persistent insomnia (defined as difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep) - namely, falling asleep or being functionally impaired by sleepiness during the day - and researchers continue to search for its causes and cure. Now a new study in the journal Sleep suggests a surprising treatment for the sleepless: the Internet. Web-based treatments have emerged for all kinds of bad habits and disorders, such as overeating, smoking, depression - and insomnia. (Read "Can a Sleep Disorder Predict Parkinson...
...less expensive. Major health insurers like Blue Cross and Aetna even offer Web-based anti-insomnia programs for free (you can check out the retail versions at cbtforinsomnia.com or myselfhelp.com for as little as $20). And there's growing evidence that online therapy really works: in the new Sleep study, 81% of participants who completed a five-week, online program for insomnia reported improvement in sleep...
...some unique things that you get from an Internet program, like the feeling that you are really in the driver's seat," says the study's author, clinical psychologist Norah Vincent, who adds that many of the 40 participants who completed her multimedia program reported both better sleep quality and less daytime fatigue than did a control group. "People like to have autonomy in solving problems. I think it motivates them more," she says. (Read "Online Helpdesk...
Based on cognitive-behavioral-therapy techniques, Vincent's virtual therapy combines videos, text and audio clips to teach the sleepless everything about good sleep hygiene, from how to relax the body before getting into bed to how not to stress out when you fail to doze off right away. (One of the worst things you can do when you can't fall asleep is lie there and dwell on the consequences of not getting enough sleep.) Participants in her study were asked to keep digital sleep diaries and practice the techniques that were demonstrated onscreen. They were also allowed...
...directly with other approaches. Vincent's study, on the other hand, found that 35% of those who received online treatment reported that they were "much" or "very much" improved, compared with 50% of those who received in-person group therapy using the same behavioral-cognitive approach at Vincent's sleep clinic at the University of Manitoba in Canada. The benefit of the online strategy, of course, is that it can work for people who don't have access to face-to-face therapy...