January 3, 2024 – Learning techniques to enhance sleep or taking the drug Ambien were similarly effective in improving daytime functions in individuals with insomnia, based on a brand new study within the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
Insomnia is a standard sleep problem Symptoms These can include difficulty falling asleep, difficulty staying asleep, or poor sleep quality. People with insomnia typically experience daytime sleepiness.
Most individuals who seek treatment for insomnia achieve this since the condition affects their ability to operate normally through the day, the researchers noted. Their study was designed to look at whether one behavioral therapy or traditional drug therapy was higher than the opposite when it got here to improving daytime functioning. A second phase of the study examined whether the addition of a second treatment resulted in higher daytime performance in people whose insomnia didn't improve with medication or therapy alone.
For the study211 adults within the U.S. and Canada with chronic insomnia were randomly assigned to either take the drug zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien, or take part in behavioral therapy that teaches them to manage the period of time they spend in bed. to limit and limit activities in bed. The average age of the study participants was 46 years, 63% of whom were women.
Chronic insomnia was defined as occurring three or more nights per week, and study participants reported having trouble falling or staying asleep for greater than a month.
Both the Ambien group and the therapy group experienced similar improvements in day by day outcomes, including a discount in depression symptoms, reduced fatigue, and overall higher mental health and performance. The therapy group reported greater improvement in anxiety symptoms than the Ambien group.
The authors suggested that the therapy group could have experienced less anxiety because study participants fell asleep more quickly and spent less time awake in the course of the night, which could have “reduced anxiety and worry about falling asleep and waking up at midnight.” the researchers wrote.
“Additionally, [behavioral therapy] may also reduce sleep-related anxiety or distress by altering participants' perceptions of sleep,” they noted.
In a second phase of the study, those whose insomnia didn't improve in the primary phase were randomly assigned to additional insomnia therapy, similar to: B. Ambien, behavioral therapy, one other medication called trazodone, or one other therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy. The addition of a second treatment resulted in further improvements in these people's daytime functioning.
Study participants' improved functioning and mental health continued throughout a 12-month follow-up period, the authors noted.
Up to 1 in three adults experience insomnia symptoms, and about 10% of individuals meet the standards for a diagnosis of insomnia disorder Cleveland Clinic.
The authors noted that as a result of some study limitations, similar to the shortage of a control group as a part of the study design, further research is required to substantiate the outcomes.