Adding digital cognitive-behavioral therapy (dCBT) to treatment as usual for insomnia disorder, compared with sleep hygiene education alone, can significantly improve multiple daytime effects from poor sleep, including moodiness and lower cognitive functioning, new research suggests.
In a randomized clinical trial, the large improvement in insomnia associated with dCBT mediated small improvements in functional health and psychological well-being, as well as large improvements in sleep-related quality of life. Significant improvements in these factors occurred at 4, 8, and 24 weeks following initiation of dCBT.
“Insomnia is the most common expression of mental ill health in the world. It presents mostly in primary care, but also in association with disorders such as depression and psychosis,” principal investigator Colin A. Espie, PhD, Sleep and Circadian Neuroscience Institute, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, told Medscape Medical News.
“For decades it has been a disorder in search of a solution. Sleeping pills are less effective for chronic sleep problems than CBT, the treatment recommended by the American College of Physicians [ACP],” Espie added.