The Singapore Family Physician

Back to issue Vol 36 No. 1 - Psychiatry Updates

An approach to insomnia

Ng Beng Yeong
The Singapore Family Physician Vol 36 No 1 - Psychiatry Updates
8 - 11
1 March 2010
0377-5305
Insomnia, the most prevalent sleep complaint in the general population, is defined as the inability to obtain sleep that is sufficiently long or ‘good enough’ to result in feeling rested or restored the following day. Patients with insomnia often report difficulty in falling sleep, difficulty in maintaining sleep, such as having intermittent awakening during the night, or early morning awakening with inability to fall asleep again. common perpetuating factors for insomnia are: poor sleep hygiene was established and continues; excessive worrying about sleep; much time and effort spent on ‘trying’ to sleep. Behavioural treatment of psychophysiological insomnia consists of education, cognitive restructuring, stimulus control procedures, sleep restriction and implementation of healthy sleep habits.