Behavioral sleep medicine

Behavioral Sleep Medicine Overview:
– Behavioral sleep medicine applies treatment strategies to sleep disorders.
– BSM specialists provide clinical services for sleep disorders and psychological symptoms.
– Treatments are based on behavioral therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy.
– Goals include treating sleep disorders directly and improving quality of life.
– BSM treatment can be integrated with pharmacotherapy and medical devices.
– Practiced by licensed health professionals like psychologists and physicians.
– Training can be obtained during graduate studies or through continuing education.
– Certification as Diplomate in Behavioral Sleep Medicine (DBSM) requires specific training and passing an exam.

Diagnosis and Assessment in Behavioral Sleep Medicine:
– Assessment methods include clinical interviews, sleep diaries, and standardized questionnaires.
– Diagnostic criteria are found in the ICSD-3 and DSM-5.
– Insomnia is commonly evaluated through interviews and sleep diaries.
– Questionnaires like Insomnia Severity Index and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index are used.
– Polysomnography may be used to rule out other disorders.

Treatment and Management in Behavioral Sleep Medicine:
– BSM practitioners provide evidence-based treatments for sleep disorders.
– Interventions are brief, structured, and cognitive-behavioral in nature.
– Treatments aim to educate individuals to manage their sleep disorder independently.
– Some treatments are published in clinical guidelines.
– BSM interventions are tailored to specific sleep disorders.

Age-Specific Sleep Concerns:
– Adolescents: Circadian rhythm disorders, insomnia, delayed sleep-wake phase disorder.
– Infants: Safe sleeping practices to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome.
– Adults: Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is a first-line, non-pharmacological treatment recommended by medical associations.
– Various evidence-based treatments for adult sleep disorders are available.
– Treatment guidelines and clinical practice recommendations for adult sleep disorders.

Research and Tools in Behavioral Sleep Medicine:
– Various studies and position papers on managing sleep disorders in adults.
– Importance of evidence-based treatments and guidelines for adult sleep disorders.
– Role of cognitive behavioral therapy in treating insomnia.
– Recommendations from medical associations and sleep medicine experts.
– Assessment tools like the Insomnia Severity Index, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and others for diagnosing sleep disorders.

Behavioral sleep medicine (Wikipedia)

Behavioral sleep medicine (BSM) is a field within sleep medicine that encompasses scientific inquiry and clinical treatment of sleep-related disorders, with a focus on the psychological, physiological, behavioral, cognitive, social, and cultural factors that affect sleep, as well as the impact of sleep on those factors.^{[page needed]} The clinical practice of BSM is an evidence-based behavioral health discipline that uses primarily non-pharmacological treatments (that is, treatments that do not involve medications). BSM interventions are typically problem-focused and oriented towards specific sleep complaints, but can be integrated with other medical or mental health treatments (such as medical treatment of sleep apnea, psychotherapy for mood disorders). The primary techniques used in BSM interventions involve education and systematic changes to the behaviors, thoughts, and environmental factors that initiate and maintain sleep-related difficulties.

The most common sleep disorders that can benefit from BSM include insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders, nightmare disorder, childhood sleep disorders (for example bedwetting, bedtime difficulties), parasomnias (such as sleepwalking, sleep eating), sleep apnea-associated difficulties (such as difficulty using continuous positive airway pressure), and hypersomnia-associated difficulties (for example daytime fatigue and sleepiness, psychosocial functioning).