Treatments that work for insomnia – study

The new issue of *Canadian Psychology* includes an article: “Chronic
Insomnia: Recent Advances and Innovations in Treatment Developments and
Dissemination.”

The author is Charles M. Morin.

Here’s how the article begins:

[begin excerpt]

Sleep is a vital function, essential to psychological and physical well-
being.

Not surprisingly, sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia, are very
common amongst individuals with psychological or medical problems.

Insomnia is amongst the most prevalent health complaints and the most
common of all sleep disorders in the general population.

Epidemiological estimates indicate that 30% of the adult population
reports insomnia symptoms at least occasionally, while 10% presents an
insomnia disorder (Morin, LeBlanc, Daley, Gregoire, & Merette, 2006;
Ohayon, 2002).

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Cogntiive behaviour therapy helped pain patients’ insomnia – study

The University of Rochester Medical Center issued the following news release:

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia significantly improved sleep
for patients with chronic neck or back pain and also reduced the extent
to which pain interfered with their daily functioning, according to a
study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.

The study, published online by the journal Sleep Medicine, demonstrates
that a behavioral intervention can help patients who already are taking
medications for pain and might be reluctant or unable to take additional
drugs to treat sleep disturbance.

“This therapy made a major difference to these patients,” said Carla R.
Jungquist, F.N.P., Ph.D., of the Medical Center’s Sleep and
Neurophysiology Research Laboratory, who is the lead author of the Sleep
Medicine article.

 

Long-term psychodynamic therapy found beneficial – study

*Journal of the American Medical Association* (vol.
300, #13, 2008 Oct 1) includes an article: “Effectiveness of Long-term
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Meta-analysis.”

Falk Leichsenring, DSc, and Sven Rabung, PhD are the authors.

Here’s how the article begins:

[begin excerpt]

The place of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic treatments within
psychiatry is controversial.1-2 Although some evidence supports the
efficacy of short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy (STPP) for specific
disorders,3-7 convincing research on the outcome of long-term
psychodynamic psychotherapy (LTPP) has been lacking.1-2,8 Evidence
suggests that short-term psychotherapy is sufficiently effective for
most individuals experiencing acute distress.9 Evidence, however, also
indicates that short-term treatments are insufficient for a considerable
proportion of patients with complex mental disorders, ie, patients with
multiple or chronic mental disorders or personality disorders.9-11 Some
studies suggest that long-term psychotherapy may be helpful for these
groups of patients.9-10,12-16 This is true not only of psychodynamic
therapy but also of psychotherapeutic approaches that are usually short-
term, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).15-16

 

Cognitive therapy for depression – study

The Feb 2008 issue of *British Journal of Psychiatry* (vol. 192, #2) includes a study: “Antidepressant medications v. cognitive therapy in people with depression with or without personality disorder.”

The study is by Jay C. Fournier, Robert J. DeRubeis, Richard C. Shelton,
Robert Gallop, Jay D. Amsterdam, & Steven D. Hollon

Here’s the abstract:

Background

There is conflicting evidence about comorbid personality pathology in
depression treatments.

Aims

To test the effects of antidepressant drugs and cognitive therapy in
people with depression distinguished by the presence or absence of
personality disorder.