In 2002 Allison Harvey reasoned that if a patient with insomnia consistently perceives that he or she is not getting enough sleep, then sleep related anxiety and preoccupation will be fueled, which, in turn, will fuel poor sleep, because anxiety and preoccupation are not conditions conducive to optimal sleep. (Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 869-893).

There is a subgroup of chronic insomnia sufferers who consistently report extended periods of little or no sleep with no evidence of objective sleep disturbance and without the level of daytime impairment commensurate with the degree of sleep deficits reported. This is the defining characteristic for the diagnosis of Paradoxical Insomnia in ICSD-2.

There are numerous simulated dawn clocks on the market now, alarm clocks which activate a gradually increasing light at the same time every morning instead of an alarm, radio, or music. These simulated dawn clocks are likely to improve the quality of [read more...]

One of the things that excites me about insomnia is the numbers. Sleep medicine is the fastest growing medical specialty. Insomnia is a frequent complaint in the population and is getting increased attention from the medical field, which means there is an abundance of referrals. This has certainly been true for my practice – I [read more...]

In the Volume 7 Number 6 issue of Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine Rachel Manber and a group of researchers from Stanford University and Rush University Medical Center report a study comparing the response of clients with high and low depressive symptom [read more...]

In the April, 2011 issue of Sleep a group of researchers examined the differences between individuals with a diagnosis of primary insomnia (PI) and a diagnosis of insomnia related to a mental disorder (IMD) on a number of self reported sleep measures and psychological [read more...]

Drinking cherry juice significantly improves both the quality and duration of sleep, according to new findings from Northumbria University.

Researchers from the School of Life Sciences have found that Montmorency cherry juice significantly increases the levels of melatonin in the body, the hormone which regulates sleep, and could benefit those who have difficulty sleeping due to insomnia, shift work or jet lag. Their findings, which are published this week in the online edition of the European Journal of Nutrition, reveal that people who have consumed cherry juice not only sleep for longer, but they also have improved quality of sleep, or ‘sleep efficiency’.

Placing infants on their backs, breastfeeding and immunizations are among the recommendations in the new guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) for better sleep and minimizing the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), also known as crib death and cot death.