Psycho‐educational CBT insomnia workshops for the general public: an audit of access and clinical outcomes
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5042/jpmh.2010.0159 |
| Pages | 8-15 |
| Published date | 14 April 2010 |
| Date | 14 April 2010 |
| Author | Marta Prytys,Naureen Whittinger,Shirley Coventry,Helen Idusohan,June Brown |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care |
8journal of public mental health
vol 9 • issue 1
© Pier Professional Ltd, 2010
10.5042/jpmh.2010.0159
Key words:
cognitive behavioural
therapy;
insomnia;
depression
1996; Hohagen et al, 1993). Persistent insomnia has
been shown to increase the risk for major depression
(Ford & Kame row, 1989) and accordin g to DSM-
IV (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) sleep
dist urbanc es are one of the major hallm arks o f
depressive episodes.
Despite its high prevalence and severe negative
consequences, rates of help seeking for insomnia are
low. A telephone survey of the general population
in Quebec found that only 13% of people surveyed
had con sulte d a GP about sle eping pro blems ,
with this fi gure ri sing to approx 42.3% of those
with diagno sable i nsomnia (Morin et al, 2006).
Furth ermore, d espite t he existe nce of e vidence-
based effec tive treatments for I nsomnia, these are
not necessarily used as fi rst line treatments. Morin
Over a th ird of adul ts rep ort s ome
degree of insomnia within any given
year (Morin et al, 2006; Ohayon ,
2002; Ohayon et a l, 1997) and up
to six per ce nt u se m edic atio ns
to aid the ir sleep (Ohayan, 2002). Rates are even
higher for women and older people (Ohayon, 2002;
Ohayon, 1996). Chronic insomnia affects one in 10
adults and is linked to decreased quality o f life and
increased long-term risk for medical and psychiatric
diseases ( Smith & Perlis, 2 006). Severe insom nia
oft en co-o ccur s wi th depr essi on a nd anxi ety
(Cha ron e t al, 1989; Hoha gen et al, 1993) and
the ex istence of insomnia symptoms o ver longer
periods has bee n shown to increase the lik elihood
of developing mental health problems (Breslau et al,
RESEARCH
Marta Prytys
Assistant Psychologist,
South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust
Naureen Whittinger
Assistant Psychologist,
South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust
Shirley Coventry
Counselling Psychologist,
South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust
Helen Idusohan
Clinical Psychologist,
South London and Maudsley
NHS Foundation Trust
June Brown
Lecturer in Clinical
Psychology, Institute of
Psychiatry, King’s College
London
Correspondence to:
Marta Prytys
Assistant Psychologist
Research Department
of Clinical, Educational
and Health Psychology,
University College London,
Gower Street,
London
WC1E 6BT
Insom nia i s hig hly p reval ent a nd ha s seve re ne gativ e con seque nces, yet help -seek ing r emain s
low. Cognitive behaviour al ther apy for ins omnia (C BT-I) is an eviden ce-base d treatm ent, which
targ ets f actor s th at pe rpetuate i nsomn ia over time. Using a fo rmat devel oped by Brow n and
colle agues (19 99) o f offering sel f-referra l psycho- educa tiona l wor ksho ps fo r the community,
one -da y C BT-I wo rk sho ps wer e run on a ro uti ne bas is, thr oug hou t 2 007 , for th e genera l
public. Thes e intensive workshop days were l ed by two cl inica l/cou nsell ing psychol ogist s, and
attra cted a large number o f self- referr als. Par ticipa nts com pleted a batte ry o f measu res at the
introduc tory and follow up phases of the workshop programme including measu res of insomnia,
anxie ty and depr ession. Of the 60 people who s elf-re ferre d, the large major ity were women,
58% had cl inical in somnia as indicat ed by the Ins omnia Seve rity In dex (ISI) and 75% had clinical
levels of de pressi on as measur ed by the Be ck Dep ressio n Inven tor y (BDI ; scores over 10). At
the follow-u p s tage , the re were sig nifi cant improve ment s on al l me asu res, a nd t here wa s a
high degree of part icipant satisfa ction wi th the workshops. Such lar ge-scal e inter ventions offer
an im por tant , potentially cost- effect ive me ans o f dis seminating evide nce-b ased psych ological
inter ventions to lar ge numbe rs of p eople.
Psycho-educational CBT
insomnia workshops for the
general public: an audit of
access and clinical outcomes
To continue reading
Request your trial