Insomnia May Be Cured With A 1-Hour Therapy Session

Could a simple one-hour sleep therapy cure 73 percent of those suffering from acute insomnia?

Researchers at Northumbria University have found that almost three-quarters of participants saw improvements in their quality of sleep following a 60-minute cognitive behavioral therapy session. The findings are published in the journal SLEEP.

Researchers noted how the findings are particularly important in helping prevent the transition from acute to chronic insomnia, which can lead to the onset of depression and othe health issues.

The study involved 40 adults who reported that they had suffered from insomnia for less than three months and who were not currently taking medication to aid their sleep. Furthermore, none involved had previously received cognitive behavioral therapy.

All participants were separated into two groups, featuring nine males and 11 females. All used sleep diaries to record their quality and duration of sleep for seven days before treatment and completed the insomnia of their sleep for seven days before treatment and completed the Insomnia Severity Index that measured the nature, severity and impact of insomnia.

Another group received treatment of a one-hour, one-to-one cognitive behavioral therapy session delivered by lead study author Jason Ellis, a Professor of Sleep Science in Northumbria University's Department of Psychology, and a self-help pamphlet to read at home. The control group, on the other hand, received no additional support.

Immediately following treatment, there was no significant difference between the control group and those who had received cognitive behavioral therapy. However, within one month of the therapy session, 60 percent reported improvements in their sleep quality. And within three months, the increase had jumped to 73 percent.

The therapy session covered sleep education and individual difference in ‘sleep need' at different stages of life, introducing the principles of sleep restriction that encouraged the individual to spend only a certain amount of time in bed required for sleep. With their recorded sleep diaries, the individuals were then prescribed a time to go to bed and a time to get up to improve their sleep efficiency.

The sleep-help pamphlet used a "3D" message that represented actions for the individual to recognize and work on their symptoms of insomnia.

"The results of our study clearly showed that a single therapy session had successful results, with an improvement in sleep quality for some 60% of those with acute insomnia within one month," concluded Ellis, in a news release. "The longer-term benefits were even better with almost three quarters of those who received the intervention not developing chronic insomnia.

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