Therapy beats sleeping pills

Shape, March, 2005 by Kathleen Doheny

If you're among the 58 percent of American adults who suffer from insomnia, learning to change your sleep habits works better than taking sleeping pills, according to new research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Sixty-three men and women were assigned to one of four groups for the eight-week study: behavior therapy only, sleeping pills only, sleeping pills plus therapy or placebo pills plus therapy. People in the behavior-therapy group improved their ability to fall asleep by 52 percent, while the sleeping-pill-only group had just a 14 percent improvement. Among the best strategies they learned:

* Go to bed only when you're drowsy and get out of bed if you do not fall asleep within 20-30 minutes. Go to another room and read or engage in another relaxing activity until you're sleepy.

* Reserve the bedroom for sleep and sex only.

* Get up at the same time every day, regardless of how you slept.--K.D.