Spouses of Insomnia Patients Try To Help Deal With The disorder But Don’t Succeed

To show their support, spouses or partners of patients with insomnia involved in activities that reduced their sleep time and developed anxiety.

Partners of people who have insomnia may try to be supportive by engaging in a range of behaviors that unintentionally contradict treatment recommendations.

Results show that 74 percent of partners encouraged an early bedtime or late wake time, which is in direct conflict with the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI).

Insomnia | Sleeping Difficulty - Symptom Evaluation
Insomnia may be due to physiological, psychological, physical or environmental factors. Insomnia should be treated promptly in order to improve the quality of life and prevent other health problems.

TOP INSIGHT

Bed partners made accommodations that affected their own functioning, including their sleep and life outside of work.

Forty-two percent also encouraged doing other things in bed, such as reading or watching TV, and 35 percent encouraged naps, caffeine or reduced daytime activities.

"It is possible that partners are unwittingly perpetuating insomnia symptoms in the patient with insomnia," said lead author Alix Mellor.

"It is therefore important for more data to be collected to determine whether insomnia treatments may better benefit patients and their partners by proactively assessing and addressing bed partner behaviors in treatment programs."

Interesting Facts and Statistics on Insomnia
Do you have trouble sleeping and are you restless due to sleepless nights? Insomnia is the most common sleeping disorder and it is important to know about its risks.

The research team led by Mellor and chief investigator Sean P. A. Drummond, studied 31 partners, including 14 women, of individuals seeking treatment for insomnia as part of a randomized, controlled trial investigating partner-assisted interventions for insomnia.

Partners completed several questionnaires at baseline: the Family Accommodation Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The insomnia patients also completed baseline questionnaires, including the Insomnia Severity Index, and kept a sleep diary for one week prior to starting treatment.

Insomnia — Overview
Difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep is known as insomnia. It is a symptom that occurs due to other disorders and can cause daytime sleepiness.

Results also show that bed partners made accommodations that affected their own functioning, including their sleep and life outside of work. This may explain why partners who attempted to be helpful experienced more anxiety, even though the insomnia patients perceived the relationship to be more satisfying.

"Our preliminary results suggest that while some of these behaviors make the patient feel supported, their partner may be experiencing more anxiety," said Mellor.