Behavioral sleep medicine
Open-knowledge reference entry
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. 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).
Scope
The clinical practice of behavioral sleep medicine applies behavioral and psychological treatment strategies to sleep disorders. BSM specialists provide clinical services including assessment and treatment of sleep disorders and co-occurring psychological symptoms and disorders, often in conjunction with pharmacotherapy and medical devices that may be prescribed by medical professionals.
Most BSM treatments are based on behavioral therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. Goals of BSM treatment include directly treating the sleep disorder (for example with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia), improving adherence to non-behavioral treatments (such as motivational enhancement for CPAP), and improving quality of life for people with chronic sleep disorders (for example, by using cognitive behavioral therapy for hypersomnia).
Training and certification
Behavioral sleep medicine is a clinical specialty practiced by individuals who are licensed health professionals, including psychologists, counselors, social workers, physicians, nurses, physical therapists, and other healthcare professionals.
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This entry incorporates text from “Behavioral sleep medicine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.