Cognitive Behavior Therapy Appears Beneficial For Long-term Treatment Of Insomnia

[Nancy LC]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090519172107.htm

I'm posting this for Nelson, I hope she sees it.

[Samantha22]

Thank you for posting this.
I have had insomnia since I was about 16 years old, and am always looking for new studies.

[Nelson]

Thank you for posting this. There are a lot of interesting articles at that link. I wonder what exactly they mean by "cognitive behavioral therapy." It looks like my PPO insurance does list a couple of sleep specialists, so I may soon find out. :yawn:

I am still struggling with the early wakings, but I have at least established that ketosis is not the cause. I started low carbing as I entered menopause, which is when the insomnia really became chronic. I needed to be convinced that ketosis wasn't causing the problem, and now I am. I have deliberately increased my cho intake until I exited ketosis and stayed out for two weeks. No real improvement in sleep, but I have gained 5 lbs :mad: Back to vlc.

Right now I am sleeping through the night only with the help of ambien or kava or antihistamines, and I really want to get past that.

I have doubled up on the vitamin D and added krill oil for inflammation. I am actually kind of impressed with the krill. My worst symptoms felt like weaponized PMS--agitation and headaches at night, with bloating and water retention in the a.m. The nighttime agitation and breast tenderness seem to be largely abated after a week of krill. (My husband calls it "krell" oil--remember the invisible monsters in that old scifi classic? :lol: Maybe they'll make me smart!)

[Nelson]

Thank you for posting this.
I have had insomnia since I was about 16 years old, and am always looking for new studies.

Isn't insomnia a bitch!! When Heath Ledger died, I read a lot of theories about whether it was really an accident or not, and I remember thinking that people really don't understand how desperate you can get for a night's sleep. I can see how it would really be tempting to just keep taking more and more pills even though you'd know better if you were thinking clearly.

[Nancy LC]

I would imagine that CBT for insomnia probably just involves certain techniques for relaxation and stuff. Although I must admit that anytime I've tried "relaxation techniques", it never worked for me. But I keep reading about it being used successfully with insomnia all the time now.

[Nelson]

Yeah, I've tried all the "sleep hygiene" and mental games that would apparently fall under cognitive therapy, and all they do is make me irritable. It's all so condescending and dismissive. Just another form of "you're just stressed. Try to calm down."

[Nancy LC]

Yeah, I've tried all the "sleep hygiene" and mental games that would apparently fall under cognitive therapy, and all they do is make me irritable. It's all so condescending and dismissive. Just another form of "you're just stressed. Try to calm down."
I'm only guessing that's what it is about, it could be something different.

But I know the feeling, all those relaxation techniques just end up making me think about the insomnia even more.

[melibsmile]

Interesting. I posted a couple months ago about how CBT techniques are used for smoking and how they have some utility for weight loss as well. Thread is here:

CBT for weight loss (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.phpt=392513&highlight=cognitive+behavioral+therapy)

--Melissa