Psychiatria pre prax 2/2002

Treatment of Chronic Insomnia

72–80 % of insomniac patients attend a specialized outpatient’s office for sleep disorders with the complaint of chronic insomnia. This article deals with insomnia which is psychophysiological and which is not part of any psychic or somatic disease. Chronic insomnia is defined as insomnia lasting for more than 6 months. The dependence on the hynotic benzodiazepines is, very frequently, an accompanying characteristic feature and represents a serious complication of this form of insomnia. Th treatment of chronic insomnia is neither easy, nor 100 % successful. It requires significant cooperation between the physician and the patient, a combination of drug therapy and psychotherapy and a regime adjustment.

Keywords: chronic insomnia, dependence on benzodiazepines, temporal hygiene, cognitive behavioural psychotherapy.