Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs. Sleep Medications for Insomnia Insomnia is one of the most common complaints of people with tinnitus. New research demonstrates that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be helpful not only in managing tinnitus, but also in controlling insomnia. Forty-six patients were given either CBT, pharmaceutical sleep medication, or a placebo. Those who received CBT reduced their "awake-time" by 52%, compared with 4% and 16% for the sleep medication and placebo groups respectively. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy... is a form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the important role of thinking in how we feel and what we do. Cognitive-behavioral therapist teach that when our brains are healthy, it is our thinking that causes us to feel and act the way we do. Therefore, if we are experiencing unwanted feelings and behaviors, it is important to identify the thinking that is causing the feelings / behaviors and to learn how to replace this thinking with thoughts that lead to more desirable reactions. Most cognitive-behavioral therapies have the following characteristics: CBT is based on the Cognitive Model of Emotional Response. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is based on the scientific fact that our thoughts cause our feelings and behaviors, not external things, like people, situations, and events. The benefit of this fact is that we can change the way we think to feel / act better even if the situation does not change. CBT is based on stoic philosophy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy does not tell people how they should feel. However, most people seeking therapy do not want to feel they way they do. CBT teaches the benefits of feeling, at worst, calm when confronted with undesirable situations. It also emphasizes the fact that we have our undesirable situations whether we are upset about them or not. If we are upset about our problems, we have two problems -- the problem, and our upset about it. Most sane people want to have the fewest number of problems possible. --from American Tinnitus Assn July 2006
