The Chronic Inability to Sleep

Prevalent, Significant, Costly

The Chronic Inability to Sleep

Insomnia is a society—is quite profound.” sleep disorder we cannot Recent research puts the inafford to trivialdividual economic burden of ize. The National chronic insomnia at $5,000 Sleep Foundation per year, per patient, accordstates around 1 ing to Dr. Morin. “This may in 3 people has at sound like a large number,” least mild insomDr. Morin asserts, “Until you nia. World reCharles Morin, PhD realize only 10 percent of nowned insomnia (Canada) that number is related to the researcher, Charles individual’s cost of treating the Morin, PhD of Canada, puts the sleep disorder. The remaining 90 prevalence of chronic insomnia percent is indirect costs.” The redisorder in adults at around 10%. search sites indirect costs related to Considering the current global chronic insomnia as the frequency population, this means somewhere of being absent from work and dearound 2 billion people are living crease in productivity due to lower with some form of insomnia. “It energy and memory function. is a common assumption,” begins Dr. Morin, “that as we age, we THE INDIVIDUAL IMPACT have more sleep disturbances. And There is a familial aspect to chronic for the most part, that is true. But insomnia. If one or both parents insomnia and chronic insomnia are have insomnia, the children are most common in middle-aged paat a higher risk of developing the tients, with a slightly higher prevasleep disorder. But researchers are lence among women.” still looking at all of the variables. Could watching parents struggle THE ECONOMIC BURDEN with the inability to sleep make it Dr. Morin is a professor of psya learned behavior? “What I like chology and researcher at Univerto offer,” Dr. Morin suggests, “is sité Laval in Quebec, Canada. With hope. If sleep difficulties are a dozens of journal publications and learned behavior, that means you awards behind him, currently, he is can unlearn them. And if you working to push insomnia into the know you are at a higher risk, then spotlight. “Too often, insomnia is when you face life stressors such seen as trivial,” Dr. Morin states. as a death or divorce, you can “But we are able to show that the hold out hope the issue is tempoimpact on individuals—as well as rary.” Though Dr. Morin has seen

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| healthiersleepmag.com stressors strike high-risk patients and take insomnia from temporary to chronic. “Clinicians are now aware of the connection between depression and sleep disturbances. And where they were once told to treat the depression to relieve the insomnia, too often the sole treatment of depression did not stop the sleep disturbances. Today, we treat both health concerns, giving them equal significance. Sleep disorders such as insomnia need to be viewed as the high-level health factor that it is.” Per World Sleep Society’s sleep talking points, chronic lack of sleep has not only been connected to an increased likelihood of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and psychosis, but also a higher risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

THE BEST TREATMENT OPTION

For the billions of people living with insomnia, what is the most recommended line of treatment? A form of therapy known as CBT-I. Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) has been listed as the first-line of insomnia treatment for those with moderate to chronic insomnia by some of the top experts in the world. The American College of Physicians® published insomnia treatment guidelines that note CBT-I as “a strong recommendation” with “moderate-quality evidence.”