{"id":10668,"date":"2020-07-10T07:27:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T11:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=10668"},"modified":"2020-07-17T14:58:31","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T18:58:31","slug":"cbt-for-insomnia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/cbt-for-insomnia\/","title":{"rendered":"CBT for Insomnia: Does It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is CBT<\/a> for insomnia? Does it work? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBT for insomnia is one theory for treatment that can help insomnia. CBT for insomnia is a treatment that stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Using CBT for insomnia, you focus on changing behavior to decrease anxiety and improve sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What Is Insomnia<\/strong>?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For you to learn about CBT for sleep, first consider why people might use it. Insomnia is defined as making enough time for sleeping, but having insufficient sleep quantity or quality, for more than 3 months. Symptoms include difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the middle of night, and feeling unrefreshed in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they do sleep, insomniacs have more fragmented REM sleep and shallower brainwaves in NREM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 out of 9 people suffer from insomnia. It\u2019s twice as common in women than men, and more common in blacks\/Hispanics than whites, for unknown reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common triggers of insomnia are emotional concerns or distress. The biological cause is linked to an overactive sympathetic nervous system, which raises body temperature and levels of cortisol\/epinephrine. In turn, the thalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala all remain more active than in normal sleeping patients<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the complex physiology of insomnia, it\u2019s unlikely blunt instruments like sleeping pills will fix the root cause. Many claim that CBT for insomnia can help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBT for Insomnia<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common non-pharmacological method for changing behavior. It\u2019s commonly applied to depression, but there are variants for insomnia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBT for insomnia has been shown to be more effective than sleeping pills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A big part of alleviating insomnia is redeveloping confidence around ability to sleep. Thus, some practices force insomniacs to restrict their time in bed, maybe even to 6 hours or less. This builds up stronger sleep pressure, and so patients fall asleep faster and regain psychological confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other prescriptions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n