Why Can't You Sleep?: Underst... Video Transcript

Webcast Transcript

And very commonly they will have repeated jerking movements in their legs that further disrupt sleep.

ANNOUNCER: Sleep specialists have learned that many people suffering from insomnia often need help breaking bad habits.

GARY ZAMMIT, PhD: Sleep hygiene is really the development of good sleep habits. This refers to doing things like going to bed at the same time every night, getting up the same time every morning, no matter what happened the night before. For most people, avoiding daytime naps, avoiding stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine, avoiding alcohol just prior to bedtime. Although it's a sedative, it can truly disrupt sleep. Not going to bed too hungry or too full. Both of those conditions can disturb sleep.

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: Not surprisingly, the best environment for sleep is one that's quiet, dark and sealed off from any light. All of those factors can certainly disrupt our sleep.

GARY ZAMMIT, PhD: People who use nonpharmacologic therapies often report that they work very well for them. They experience a subjective sense of improvement in their sleep. One of the problems with behavioral therapies or nonpharmacologic therapies for insomnia is they often take time to work, and patients don't want to wait. They're suffering. Their lives are impaired, and they want some immediate relief.

ANNOUNCER: For many, relief is found with both over the counter and prescription medications.

GARY ZAMMIT, PhD: In years past, many doctors were concerned about offering a prescription medication to their patients. They were rightly concerned about problems of tolerance, dependence, misuse of the prescription and adverse effects. But the newer medications that are available now have really offered real alternatives to the older class of medications, effective and safe alternatives which now offer physicians an opportunity to prescribe something that they know is effective for sleep.

ANNOUNCER: Whatever the strategy, it's vital to recognize the problem.

GARY ZAMMIT, PhD: We know that insomnia is associated with a number of significant problems in daytime functioning, in health and so on, so there's no need really to go on with the problem unattended. So talk to a doctor whenever insomnia results in distress or results in impairment in daytime functioning.

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