By assessing the benefits of safer psychological treatments for insomnia, the study will provide the first ever calculation of the direct and indirect costs associated with the widespread use of sleeping pills in insomnia management. Literature from the US and the UK is suggesting that 'talking therapies' have a major role to play in the management of insomnia, and part of the study will be the use of specially trained counsellors to deliver treatment within general practice surgeries throughout Sheffield. In dealing with sleep disorders, GPs often lack access to practical alternatives to sleeping tablets. Our aim is to explore the best way of offering a range of effective treatments for insomnia in primary care settings. We are aware, however, that sleeping tablets have dominated treatment in this area for over thirty years.
Insomnia is age dependent.
The older we get, the higher the risk of developing a sleeping problem. Apart from its age dependency, insomnia can be caused by, or made worse by, a whole variety of factors ranging from physical illness to occupational stress. People are very different and their sleeping patterns are different too. Some of us need less, some need more, again depending largely on our age. Society fits us into a pattern of when to sleep and when to be awake, and it doesn't suit everyone.