Rolling over in bed, ruminating on the thoughts of the day without succeeding in closing the eye. This is the daily life of many insomniacs who often struggle to find a cure for their illness, and in particular the elderly in whom it is a recurring problem. Non-drug therapies exist, but they are not necessarily often prescribed, in particular due to a lack of psychotherapists. Researchers from the Health and Aging Foundation have studied the possibility of delivering this therapy by coaches specialized in sleep but not psychologists, such as social workers. The results confirm the relevance of the approach.
An effective therapy but little practiced
Insomnia is the most common sleep problem in adults (30-50% of patients), and particularly affects older people. In these people, this pathology is linked to a higher risk of depression, falls or even cerebrovascular accident (stroke). In many cases, patients treat their insomnia by taking sleeping pills, psychotropic drugs. However, this practice entails risks in itself: falls, fractures, even death in the elderly. Other therapies exist and have shown their worth, in particular cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), delivered by psychologists. The goal of this approach is to change thoughts, emotional response and behaviors related to sleep. Problem: not enough practitioners practice it, and first-time prescribers, often general practitioners, do not always dare to offer it to their elderly patients. The solution: train non-psychologists in order to develop the offer. A study published in the journal of the American Geriatrics Society wanted to verify that this framework of therapy would guarantee good results.
Improved sleep and faster fall asleep
The authors of the study therefore followed 159 men aged 60 to 90, divided into three groups. The first two followed the CBT, respectively face-to-face with the coach or in a small group. The third received general sleep education. All in five one-hour sessions spread over six weeks. To assess the effectiveness of the technique, participants reported data on their sleep before starting treatment, at the end of five sessions, then 6 months and a year later. Both coached groups show significant improvements in their sleep compared to the control group following sleep education. Thus, CBT decreases the time to fall asleep by 23 minutes, and the time spent awake at night by more than an hour (68 minutes). The volunteers also report a better quality of their sleep. Most of these changes are still visible in the long term, and no noticeable difference was recorded between those who attended the face-to-face and group sessions.
To read also
We now know the impact of chronic insomnia on the brain
Insomnia: 3 Bach flowers to sleep well
4-7-8: magic numbers, anti-insomnia