NON-MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR INSOMNIA
Most experts recommend the use of behavioral and non-medical approaches to treat insomnia, together with medications and other scientific methods. A lot of behavioral interventions on insomnia have been come up with out of researches and studies. The behavioral therapy for insomnia usually includes sleep hygiene, which teaches several steps that a person can observe to improve both the quantity and quality of sleep he or she is getting. These steps include getting just the right amount of sleep, not too much nor too little, to feel adequately rested.
This sleep hygiene also emphasizes regular exercise, regular sleep-wake schedule and appropriate room environment (temperature, light). Furthermore, smoking, taking caffeinated drinks, going to bed hungry and bringing emotional baggage to the bed are also discouraged. One of the other approaches is the stimulus-control therapy, where the person is given a set of instructions that he or she should follow to eliminate or even just reduce the behaviors that might disturb the regularity of the sleeping pattern.
These instructions are very simple steps that anybody can easily follow. A person should lie down in his or her bed only when he or she feels sleepy. The bed and bedroom should only be used for sleep and sex, and not for studying, reading or watching the television. If you cannot go to sleep, you should go out of your bed and stay in another room for around 15 to 20 minutes. You should only go back to your bed when you feel sleepy. You should also get out of your bed at the same time every morning. Daytime naps are also discouraged.
Another cognitive behavioral approach is the sleep restriction therapy. In this intervention, the amount of time a person can try to go to sleep is restricted or limited initially. This aims to make sleeping more efficient which would later lead to a gradual increase in the amount of time they can spend in bed. This would also result to getting the greatest total amount of sleep at the same maintaining good sleep. Relaxation exercises can also help. Meditation and muscle relaxation are usually used.
This may involve playing smooth music or dimming the lights. The importance of diet, exercise and substance use in the need to get a good night's sleep will be explained to a person. Cognitive behavioral therapy can also be used to contradict and twist the maladaptive paradigm of the person and motivate them to embrace a more positive and encouraging one. However, using these behavioral and cognitive approaches would need a longer time frame before the effectiveness can be seen. Likewise, the effects of these non-medical approaches are also known to be more long-lasting.