Blog posts with the tag "Insomnia"

Staff Perspective: Why We Don’t Recommend Wearable Sleep Trackers for the Assessment and Treatment of Insomnia Disorder

By Carin Lefkowitz  on 14.04.2021 12:52 pm
Dr. Carin Lefkowitz

Recently I consulted on a case where a client with insomnia insisted on tracking her sleep with a wearable monitor (think Fitbit or Apple Watch).She soon realized that her sleep tracker was actually increasing her anxiety about sleep. She became more aware of every toss and turn during the night. Ultimately, the client decided to forego the tracker and use only a paper sleep log each night and morning. Her anxiety decreased overnight (pun intended) and she starting falling asleep faster and staying asleep longer.

Staff Perspective: Understanding Symptom Specific Effects of Cognitive Therapy and Behavior Therapy for Insomnia

By Timothy Rogers  on 07.04.2021 1:01 pm

Newer research is examining not just the overall effect of treatment strategies for insomnia, but how certain approaches may produce different symptom specific effects during the course of treatment. The purpose of this blog will be to review the theory, interventions, and research findings about how these treatment approaches may produce symptom specific effects during the course of insomnia treatment.

Staff Perspective: Let’s talk about Melatonin!

By Jeffrey Mann  on 24.03.2021 9:36 am

Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally found in the body. It is produced synthetically in the laboratory and is available in pill form as well as forms that can be absorbed under the tongue or through the cheek. However, before we talk about the role of melatonin in sleep, let’s talk about what it’s NOT for. So many of the patients I work with on sleep issues describe taking melatonin on a regular basis, every night before bed. Melatonin is not a sedative. It is not sleep inducing and it does not share any of the properties of prescription or over-the-counter sleep aids

Staff Perspective: Are You A Short Sleeper – Or Just Sleep Deprived?

By Diana Dolan  on 17.03.2021 9:45 am

A number of my military patients – and likely your patients, too, judging by the consultation requests we see – seem to have gotten so used to the effects of getting insufficient sleep they wonder if they don’t really need much sleep. Maybe they’re just short sleepers, they wonder; maybe there’s no need to change their sleep habits

Staff Perspective: Sleep Can Put up a Good Fight and Not Improve Following a Trauma-Focused Treatment

By Paula Domenici  on 10.03.2021 9:42 am

After 14 sessions of an evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) for PTSD, my patient’s improvement was undeniable. His score on the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) had decreased from 62 at baseline to 18 at our final session. He described that his trauma memories no longer had a hold over him, they were fading away in a healthy way. When I looked at his final PCL-5, I was pleased to see he had rated all of the items 0 or 1, except for item #20 (trouble falling or staying asleep), which he rated 4. I had hoped this symptom would have improved as treatment progressed, yet no matter how well our work was going, it hardly budged.

Pages