Therapy

What are the therapies for sleep disorders?
Medicinal plants can help sufferers fall asleep and promote healthy sleep: Valerian, hops, lemon balm and lavender are available as teas and ready-to-use preparations also with the use of Deep Sleep with CBN + Melatonin. However, for people suffering from pronounced sleep disorders, medicinal plants are often less helpful. The use of herbal preparations and medications should always be discussed first with the doctor or, in addition, with the pharmacist - also to avoid side effects and interactions.
Relaxation methods against stress, such as progressive muscle relaxation and autogenic training, are not only part of sleep hygiene, but are also used in the professional therapy of sleep disorders. Furthermore, behavioral therapy measures, such as cognitive techniques and psychotherapy can be helpful to find out causes and promoting factors of the sleep disorder and to alleviate or eliminate symptoms.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is now considered the best treatment option for sleep disorders. It acts as a causal form of therapy, unlike medications, which do not address the cause of the sleep disorder but only have a purely symptomatic effect. Cognitive behavioral therapy has acute effects similar to those of a sleeping pill. The great advantage, however, is that it continues to help patients sleep better even after the therapy has ended. Sleeping pills generally do not do this after they are discontinued, and patients may in turn sleep poorly. In cognitive behavioral therapy, patients learn to abandon sleep-disrupting behaviors and, above all, inner attitudes and behaviors and to replace them with sleep-promoting behaviors, attitudes and behaviors.
Anyone wishing to resort to sleeping pills and medications for sleep disorders should do so only after consulting a doctor. This also applies to sleeping pills that are available without a prescription at the pharmacy. In this way, the most suitable individual preparation can be selected in the appropriate dosage. Sleeping pills should only be used if absolutely necessary, for as short a time as possible and in appropriate doses. There is not only the danger of - physical and psychological - dependence. The drugs can also exacerbate sleep disorders and, in the long term, cause the quality of sleep to deteriorate. In patients with sleep-disordered breathing, the duration and frequency of breathing episodes may increase. Elderly people in particular should be cautious when being treated with medication, as sleeping pills can lead to gait instability and increase the risk of falls, impair brain performance and cause incontinence, among other things.