Researchers from the Departments of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University at Norfolk, Virginia, examined the impact of a structured meditation program intervention on female detainees, comparing an experimental group and a control group for medical symptoms, emotions, and behaviors before and after the intervention.
A 2 1/2-hour meditation session was held once a week for 7 weeks. Study participants completed a medical symptoms checklist before the program began and after it ended.
Researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in The Netherlands explored whether self-help could offer an inexpensive and more accessible alternative to face-to-face treatment, comparing non-pharmacological therapies only.
Ten studies with a total of 1000 subjects were included. The self-help
style of intervention was found to improve sleep efficiency (d=0.42;
p<0.05), sleep onset latency (d=0.29; p<0.05), waking after sleep
onset (d=0.44; p<0.05) and sleep quality (d=0.33; p<0.05) but not
total sleep time (d=0.02; p>0.05).
Researchers R. Bruce Lydiard, Ph.D., M.D., and Mark Hammer MD from the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston SC , are embarking on some important research that targets sleep disturbance in posttraumatic stress. Their premise is that the first-line treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder - medication (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and cognitive behavior therapy – do not adequately treat nightmares and insomnia. Nor do they feel that there is sufficient awareness in the mental health community of the critical role sleep disturbance plays in PTSD.
Researchers from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, examined whether a self-help intervention might offer an inexpensive and more accessible alternative to face-to-face therapy for the non-pharmacologic treatment of insomnia.
They conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies examining the effects of self-help interventions for insomnia, identified through extensive searches of bibliographical databases. They examined the effects of self-help on different sleep outcomes, in comparison with both wait list controls and face-to-face treatments.
Researchers from Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust in Wales, UK, explored the impact of various interventions when they are delivered within 3 months of the traumatic event.
The study identified 25 randomized, controlled trials of multiple-session psychological treatments aimed at preventing or reducing traumatic stress symptoms in individuals within 3 months of exposure to a traumatic event. The studies examined a range of interventions.
What Helps Older Adults Sleep Better? Melatonin, Valerian, Tai Chi, Acupressure, Yoga ...
A review from the University of Pennsylvania finds several promising holistic therapies improve sleep disorders in older adults .
Research from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology reviewed the growing body of well-designed clinical trials testing efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for sleep disorders in older adults. They point to three promising areas:
Melatonin is an effective agent for circadian phase sleep disorders; less clearly so for primary or secondary insomnia;
Valerian shows benefit in some but not all clinical trials;
Chi, acupuncture, acupressure, yoga, and meditation improve sleep parameters in a limited number of early trials
The author recommends that more research be done in all these areas.
Hypnosis is found to be an effective form of therapy for insomnia in school age children, according to a retrospective record review at the State University of New York (S.U.N.Y.) at Syracuse..
Researchers from the State University of New York at Syracuse explored the efficacy of hypnosis for insomnia in school age children. A retrospective chart review was performed for 84 children and adolescents with insomnia, excluding those with central or obstructive sleep apnea.
All patients were offered and accepted instruction in self-hypnosis for treatment of insomnia, and for other symptoms if it was felt that these were amenable to therapy through hypnosis. Seventy-five patients returned for follow-up after the first hypnosis session. Their mean age was 12 years (range, 7-17). When insomnia did not resolve after the first instruction session, patients were offered the opportunity to use hypnosis to gain insight into the cause.
Researchers from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford’s Warneford Hospital
in the UK, studied people with insomnia and "good sleepers", to see if
various ways of managing unwanted thoughts affected sleep quality,
anxiety and depression.
Analysis of the data revealed that with the exception of cognitive
distraction, the people suffering from insomnia, relative to good
sleepers, more frequently used thought control strategies. More
specifically, strategies of aggressive suppression and worry appeared
to be entirely unhelpful, and in fact, the use of these strategies were
predictors of sleep impairment, anxiety and depression.
Researchers from Orebro Medical Center in Sweden conducting a controlled, randomized clinical trial, find that people with insomnia improve significantly and stay improved at one year follow-up when offered cognitive-behavioral training.
Researchers from the Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Orebro Medical Center in Orebro, Sweden conducted a randomized, controlled clinical trial to compare the effects of a cognitive-behavioral group intervention with a self-help information package on patients with insomnia.
One hundred sixty-five patients seeking care for insomnia of 3-12 months duration were randomized to either the group receiving a CBT intervention or the group receiving a self-help information package. At the 1-yr follow-up, 136 participants had completed the entire study.
Researchers from Universite Laval in Quebec studied the relative effects of self-regulation therapies and pharmaceuticals on 78 adults with chronic and primary insomnia. Subjects were assigned to either Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (stimulus control, sleep restriction, sleep hygiene and cognitive therapy, N=18), pharmacotherapy (temazepam, N=20) or both (N=20), compared to a placebo group (N=20). The 3 active treatments were more effective than the placebo, and there was a trend for the combined approach to improve sleep more than either of its two single components. In fact, there was 63.5% greater reduction of time spent awake after sleep onset for the combined condition; 55% greater for the cognitive-behavior therapy condition; 46.5% greater for the pharmacotherapy condition; and 16.9% greater for the placebo condition. In addition, subjects trained in behavior therapy were more likely to sustain their clinical gains at follow-up, and reported greater satisfaction with treatment. The study concludes that behavioral and pharmacological approaches are both effective for the short term management of late life insomnia, but that sleep improvements are better sustained over time with behavioral therapies, and a combination might be best of all.
Citation: Morin CM, Colecchi C, Stone J, Sood R, Brink D. Behavioral and pharmacological therapies for late-life insomnia: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1999 March 17; 281 (11): 991-999.
The management of unwanted pre-sleep thoughts in insomnia.
The management of unwanted pre-sleep thoughts in insomnia: distraction with imagery versus general distraction.
Forty-one people with insomnia were assigned to one of three possible groups. One group received instructions on how to use imagery to distract themselves from the unwanted thoughts, worries and concerns that were keeping them awake. Another group got general instructions general instructions to distract themselves, and the third group got no instructions. The imagery group fell asleep faster and had less distressing pre-sleep thinking and worrying than the other two groups. The study investigators attribute the success of the "imagery distraction" intervention to its occupying sufficient "cognitive space" to keep the individual from re-engaging with thoughts, worries, and concerns during the pre-sleep period.
Citation: Harvey AG, Payne S., The management of unwanted pre-sleep thoughts in insomnia: distraction with imagery versus general distraction. Behavioral Research and Therapy 2002 Mar;40(3):267-77
Imagery to Address Positive Sexuality Question:
I am currently in therapy and have been working on issues related to past childhood sexual abuse. Do you have any CDs that you narrate to address positive sexuality, relaxation... + Full Story
Martha H. Howard MDHats off to innovator and physician-pioneer, Martha H. Howard MD, the founder and Medical Director of Wellness Associates of Chicago, a practice that integrates Chinese medicine, acupuncture, guided... + Full Story
Researchers from the Departments of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Old Dominion University at Norfolk, Virginia, examined the impact of a structured meditation program intervention on female detainees, comparing an experimental group and a control group for medical symptoms, emotions, and behaviors before and after the intervention. 
Researchers from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in The Netherlands explored whether self-help could offer an inexpensive and more accessible alternative to face-to-face treatment, comparing non-pharmacological therapies only.
Researchers R. Bruce Lydiard, Ph.D., M.D., and Mark Hammer MD from the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston SC , are embarking on some important research that targets sleep disturbance in posttraumatic stress. Their premise is that the first-line treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder - medication (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) and cognitive behavior therapy – do not adequately treat nightmares and insomnia. Nor do they feel that there is sufficient awareness in the mental health community of the critical role sleep disturbance plays in PTSD.
Researchers from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, examined whether a self-help intervention might offer an inexpensive and more accessible alternative to face-to-face therapy for the non-pharmacologic treatment of insomnia. 
