Don’t lose sleep over it is a common phrase, yet many people seem unable to take this advice as occasional, short-term insomnia affects 30-50% of the population. In industrialized nations, chronic insomnia, with insomnia lasting 3 months or more, has a prevalence of 5-10%. Patients that have medical problems or psychiatric illness experience a greater rate of insomnia. All patients with insomnia are potentially affected by increased risk factors of impaired daytime functioning, substance abuse, mood disorders, chronic pain, as well as other medical diseases, including high blood pressure, dementia, and obesity being associated with insomnia. Given the tremendous burden insomnia places on individuals and society, treatment is a necessity. Both non-pharmacological, cognitive therapy, and pharmacological treatments are available. While cognitive therapy is considered the first choice of treatment, there are also a variety of pharmacological treatments that are used: Benzodiazepines, Non-benzodiazepines, Melatonin agonists, Heterocyclics, Anticonvulsants, and Orexin receptor antagonists.

What have you found to be the pros and cons of the various options?

References

• Sateia, M., Buysse, D., Krystal, A., Neubauer, D., and Heald, J., 2017. Clinical Practice Guideline: Insomnia. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2017, p. 307-349. https://doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.6470