Suffer From Insomnia? Try Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Anyone with a TV has likely seen the Lunesta moth, fluttering from house to house, bringing sleep to restless insomniacs; or observed that rooster, strutting dark streets alone after being banished from bedrooms by Ambien CR; or watched Abe Lincoln beckon a guy back to Dreamland, thanks to Rozerem. Indeed, ads for anti-insomnia drugs are ubiquitous. Makers of those three medications alone spent just shy of $300 million last year to publicize their products on TV, radio, the Web, and in print, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a company that tracks advertising. What consumers don't see marketed is an insomnia treatment that evidence suggests is equally if not more effective: cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been applied to everything from depression and anxiety to chronic pain and addiction. But a brand specifically fashioned for insomniacs has been gaining ground. Seventy to 80 percent of people with chronic insomnia—persistent difficulty in falling or staying asleep—seem to benefit significantly from a treatment course of CBT, experts say. And the gains have been shown to last for years after sessions end. Prescription sleep aids can help summon sleep in the short term, but once people stop taking the medication, they tend to backslide.

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