A new guideline has recently been published by the Darien, IL based American Academy of Sleep Medicine which attempts to use both behavior and phycological guidelines in treating insomnia. Insomnia is a prevalent issue today, with over 30% of adults reporting at least 1 instance of insomnia per year.
The biggest suggestion in these newly released guidelines centers around the increased use of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for the treatment of insomnia. Patients who opt to undergo CBT with the help of a sleep doctor generally will need to participate in more than 5 buy fewer than 10 night sessions.
This new set of guidelines is an update to the original 2006 document which also included a meta review of available studies, literature and journal review, as well as an overall review of the implementation of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework for dealing with patients who have insomnia. That framework is used to grade evidence and guide decision making processes when evaluating possible treatments for insomnia.
Related: How To Cure Insomnia
In addition to CBT, the new guidelines also suggest the use of mutli-component brief therapy which includes the use of stimulus control, sleep restriction and relaxation therapy as vectors to treat the condition with. The AASM goes as far as recommending practioners also stay away from using sleep hygene as a component in their treatment.
Read the full text of the new guidelines from the AASM here.
To request a copy of the guideline, “Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults,” or the systematic review, or to arrange an interview with an AASM spokesperson, please contact the AASM at 630-737-9700 or media@aasm.org.
