2023-12-20 11:20:40
Home > Interviews > Letting go to make peace with insomnia written on December 20, 2023 at 12:20 p.m. “The longer we stay lying down, the lighter the sleep and increases hyper arousal.” Article published in newspaper nº 119
While a recent survey by the National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance indicates that poor sleep is becoming a public health problem, clinical psychologist Mélinée Chapoutot is trying to free patients from their insomnia. With a key message: stop trying to sleep, but rather take care of your days.
What was the trigger that led you to study sleep?
What pushed me to work on sleep disorders is the incredible gap that exists between the prevalence of insomnia, extremely widespread in the general population, and the lack of trained people. In 2013, I chose to pursue my professionalism in a clinical setting within a sleep center. I met insomniacs there, most of whom took sleeping pills. These molecules always work at first, but quickly lose their effectiveness. People then find themselves without recourse, with an additional problem of dependence on these substances. So there was already room for improvement in the treatment of insomnia. Today, I work partly in a clinic; with my colleague Benjamin Putois, co-author of the book*, we have a consultation as part of the Institute of Sleep Psychology (Dormium), which offers remote consultations. I also have a specialist consultation in adult sleep disorders at the Valais hospital, in Switzerland. As far as research is concerned, I am trying to improve management protocols for chronic insomnia and withdrawal from sleeping pills.
We will come back to your protocol, but can you tell us now if it is scientifically validated?
Yes, our book was the subject of a scientific study before its publication. It focused on around thirty people suffering from severe insomnia with dependence on sleeping pills and having followed the program described in the work. The study validated its therapeutic effectiveness. The results were published in 2020 in the Journal of Sleep Research.
Is insomnia sufficiently recognized?
Unfortunately, as I said, there are not enough trained professionals and, in France, there are many geographical areas without specialized care structures. Which leads to this classic care pathway which consists of going to see your family doctor, who will often prescribe sleeping pills because you do not know where to send your patient for treatment. carry out iCBT (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia), first-line recommendation for the treatment of chronic insomnia. This is valuable help in the short term, but if the patient does not plan to wean the substances from the outset, the latter will enter a vicious circle since their insomnia will be “put to sleep” but not treated, and for lack of having other weapons, he will be led to consume sleeping pills often for years. In collaboration with the Prosom2 association, we are launching in 2024 an online training offer intended for doctorsto learn how to respond to a complaint of insomnia according to good practices, redirect according to the patient’s possible psychiatric comorbidities and support weaning of sleeping pills.
Read also The trap of sleeping pills, how can you avoid falling into it?
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