Sleep Well Without Sleeping Pills

Many of us suffer from Insomnia (poor sleep). In fact, it is estimated that there are more than 3 million US cases per year. Fortunately, most of us experience occasional or transient insomnia that resolves in a short period of time (may be few days) but about 15% of the adult population suffers from chronic or persistent insomnia. The incidence is higher in the elderly and women are more likely have sleep difficulties than men.

Insomnia can be a primary (and the only) condition but frequently is co-exists with other medical and/or psychiatric disorders. And not infrequently, medications used to treat these co-existent disorders can lead to insomnia as well. All this can make managing chronic insomnia a challenging clinical endeavor. Most patients with chronic insomnia end up being on some sleep medication, which are typically effective for short-term management of insomnia but were never designed for long term use.

So why is that many of us need to use these medications for a longer period of time? Are we addicted to these medications? Not necessarily, in my opinion. But most people with chronic insomnia develop a “fear/anxiety of not being able to sleep” which perpetuates the reliance on medications. And there are some who overtime develop poor sleep related habits like watching TV in bed, drinking caffeinated beverages close to bedtime, haphazard sleep schedule, clock watching, daytime napping etc.

This is where Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) could help. In fact, research indicates it might be the most effective treatment for chronic insomnia, if done correctly. Click here for an excellent explanation of CBT-I from the National Sleep Foundation. To summarize, it is a 6-week treatment that begins with keeping a Sleep diary and involves specific strategies to improve sleep (Sleep restriction, Stimulus control, Sleep hygiene and Relapse prevention). If you want to give it a try, visit DrLullaby, it's a telehealth program that provides CBTi and might be covered by your Health plan.

And for the Netflix lovers (or haters) out there, there are alternatives like RESTFLIX ( I am not making this up. Click on it to check it out, a streaming service that provides 20+ channels for for rest and sleep meditations).

There you go people. Who said screen time was bad for your sleep? Just kidding!!