The cure for insomnia online?
If you have insomnia no doubt have tried everything from the glass of hot milk, relaxing bath, the rate of herbal tea, to count sheep.
If no luck, is not alone. Experts say one in 10 people can not sleep when he proposed on the night.
Now, however, new treatments are emerging that seem to show that a cure for this disorder is near. And the solution seems to be on the Internet.
In recent years, U.S. researchers have been developing internet-based therapies specifically designed for insomnia.
Both treatments, says some studies, which can be as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy currently used, in the presence of the therapist to relieve the disorder.
“Insomnia is the most common mental problem in the UK and probably worldwide,” he told the BBC Dr Colin Espie, director of the Sleep Center at the University of Glasgow, Scotland.
“But less than half suffering from insomnia you mention to their doctors,” he adds.
In fact, many people feel that not sleeping is too trivial or something that will be solved alone and not worth consulting a doctor.
However, chronic insomnia can be a very complex disorder that often results from a combination of factors, including underlying physical or mental illnesses such as depression or chronic stress.
Therefore, experts say, is necessary to seek medical help.
Few therapists
But this is easier said than it is. Because even when the person is willing to talk about their problem, not always help available.
In the United Kingdom, for example, where millions of people suffer from chronic insomnia, there are not enough psychologists trained in the type of therapy is needed to help solve the problem.
That’s why online treatments could be a useful tool for people who spend the night awake because of insomnia.
These programs are carried out for several weeks and include lessons that can be downloaded, but the ultimate goal is to simulate the relationship between doctor and patient.
“Basically I relied on the format of treatment programs that use face to face with the patient and converted to internet format” the BBC said Dr. Gregg Jacobs, insomnia specialist at the Medical School of the University of Massachusetts and founder one of the online therapy programs.
Dr. Jacobs The program consists of five lessons for five weeks. Start by teaching the patient what is insomnia and proposes objectives for each of the weekly lessons.
“It’s a very safe and anonymous way to treat insomnia patient,” says the scientist.
In the first week, for example, the patient learns to ignore the clock, ie stop practicing this habit common to all insomniacs who is watching the clock every minute when you can not sleep.
The goal in the second week is to establish a regular time to rise. This is a very difficult task for insomniacs who try to sleep too much during the weekend to compensate for the hours without sleep on weekdays.
According to Dr. Jacobs, with a bit of commitment and acquiring new habits, like going to bed only when drowsy, not reading or watching TV in bed, and never spend more than 20 or 30 minutes awake in bed is may eventually regulate sleep.
Significant improvement
According to the specialist, 75% of patients have reported significant improvement.
Will these treatments on the Internet then the solution for insomnia, or at least a viable option and available?
“In many ways these treatments have advantages over face-to-face therapies,” says Dr. Lee Ritterband, psychologist Health System, University of Virginia.
“The key is certainly the ability to reach a greater number of people without their having to travel.”
Dr. Ritterband recently conducted a study on a treatment for insomnia than 9 weeks on the internet and published its findings in Archives of General Psychiatry (Archives of General Psychiatry.)
The benefits of these treatments, said Dr. Ritterband, are reflected in the numbers. About 75% of the participants in their study, all with moderate to severe insomnia and start-managed to finish the course without insomnia diagnosed.
The patients also achieved an improvement in the time it took to sleeping, the time they remained awake in bed and the number of times they awoke during the night.
At the University of Manitoba in Canada led a study with similar results, published this year in the journal Sleep, in which about 80% of participants noticed an improvement in your insomnia.
But not all experts are convinced. Some believe that computerized systems can never be as effective as treatment with a human touch. “
“I’m somewhat skeptical,” says Dr. Jom Horne, director of the Sleep Research Centre at the Universiade in Loughborough, England.
“I think many people with insomnia would like a more human contact than can be obtained with the computer.”
“The more personal the therapeutic approach between the sufferer and the therapist, the better the outcome,” says the scientist.