35% of adults contend with some form of insomnia. Some have brief insomnia symptoms that may rob them of a few minutes of sleep. Others suffer from chronic insomnia disorder, an interruption of sleep that occurs at least three times a week over a period of at least three months.
Current treatments for insomnia include drugs and expensive therapy. Drugs such as Ambien allow insomnia patients to achieve sleep by taking advantage of chemical processes in the body that, under normal circumstances, would induce sleep in a regular pattern. Sleep therapy sessions help patients mentally prepare to sleep through guided relaxation practices, helping with treating insomnia.
As an alternative to traditional guided therapy, the SHUTi (Sleep Healthy Using the Internet) website provides online courses in sleep therapy and insomnia treatment at a fraction of the cost of standard therapy.
What Is SHUTi?
SHUTi is a 16-week sleep course that starts at $135. It aims to provide sleep therapy services for those who cannot afford the $65-$200 price of a single sleep therapy session or who do not have access to a CBT-I therapist for patients with insomnia.
The courses personalize treatment to your needs. They examine your existing sleep patterns and ask you about your goals for sleep. Using the data they collect, the courses walk you through a custom training program designed to improve the sleep you get and help you achieve longer spans of sleep.
The insomnia treatment program includes methodologies you might find in an ordinary therapy session: you can take quizzes, perform exercises, and keep a journal of your sleep habits to keep the program tailored to your needs.
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| Insomnia affects men and women in every age group, according to this 2010 study. Source: nih.gov |
Does It Work?
SHUTi performed research on 303 adults who suffered from chronic insomnia. Subjects took a 9-week SHUTi course that attempted to teach them how to improve their sleep habits on an individual basis. Patients showed significant improvement in their insomnia symptoms when compared with patients who did not take the course.
Those who continued to undergo treatment after the completion of their nine-week course also showed positive results in the maintenance of their lifestyle improvements. 57% of patients received the insomnia remitter classification after only a year.
Creators of the program must continue to collect data to support their claims, however. The sample size of the original research was small, but data collected from the currently running program could help solidify the effectiveness of the program in treating insomnia. Patients who previously could not afford therapy for sleep issues or could not reach a qualified doctor may soon have a new avenue for the prevention and treatment of their insomnia symptoms.
