Cogito, ergo insomnis
I think, therefore I am sleepless
ANNIKA NORELL-CLARKE
Psychology
Örebro Studies in Psychology 30 I
ÖREBRO 20142014
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Annika Norell-Clarke is a licensed clinical psycholo-gist and researcher affiliated with the Center for Health and Medical Psychology at Örebro University. She earned her Master’s degree in clinical psychology at Örebro University in 2008 and achieved her license to practice as a clinical psychologist in 2010. Her main research interests are how disturbed sleep is perpetuated by maladaptive cognitions and behaviours, and how sleep problems are related to other psychiatric problems.
The most common sleep disorder, insomnia, affects about 10 % of the po-pulation and can cause a great deal of distress. It is thus unsurprising that people with insomnia have been found to engage in distress-related thinking processes about sleep, such as worrying about their sleep, and holding upset-ting (maladaptive) beliefs on how sleep works and how they will be affected if they sleep poorly. According to a cognitive insomnia theory, The Cognitive Model of Insomnia (Harvey, 2002), sleep-related cognitive processes are more than just symptoms of insomnia: they may actually be the driving force of persistent sleep problems. Building on this theory, this dissertation provides some insight into the roles cognitive processes play over time, in relation to insomnia remission and persistence; in treatment contexts and in the general population.
A cognitive therapy based on the Cognitive Model of Insomnia was found to be helpful for adolescents with insomnia. For adults in the general popu-lation, specific cognitive processes marked a higher risk for persistent sleep problems, whereas other processes were associated with returning to normal sleep. For people with insomnia and depressive problems who received cog-nitive behavior therapy for insomnia, a reduction in dysfunctional beliefs about sleep was associated with better sleep and less depressive symptoms after treatment. Taken together, the results of this dissertation demonstrate that sleep-related cognitive processes are relevant in understanding insomnia over time. The results have both clinical and theoretical implications, which are discussed in the dissertation.
issn 1651-1328 isbn 978-91-7529-035-5
