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Pharmacotherapy for Insomnia

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Sleep Medicine and Mental Health

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Abstract

Insomnia presents with difficulty in getting to or staying asleep or early morning awakening and is associated with unpleasant daytime consequences. Divided into subtypes, the current classification labels short-term vs. more chronic versions. Before prescribing clinical interventions, the clinician needs to consider potential etiologies for dysfunctional sleep, such as those induced by pharmaceuticals, substance usages, medical and/or psychiatric disorders. Addressing underlying factors is the initial treatment, along with education about sleep hygiene is important. Psychotherapy can be helpful to combat insomnia. Pharmacotherapy is best applied in short-term applications and at the lowest effective dose. Medicinal selection is individualized, with patients well-informed and remaining in follow-up. Elderly people are more vulnerable to side effects, prolonged pharmacological durations, and/or related issues. Oversedation, cognitive decline, and/or gait disturbances are the biggest problems and these often can make people prone to the danger of falling down.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Regions Hospital, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Puneet Narang

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Regions Hospital, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Jacob Held

  3. University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA

    Steven Lippmann

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  1. Puneet Narang
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  2. Jacob Held
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Correspondence to Puneet Narang .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Mount Laurel, NJ, USA

    Karim Sedky

  2. Mount Laurel, NJ, USA

    Racha Nazir

  3. College of Medicine, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    David Bennett

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Narang, P., Held, J., Lippmann, S. (2020). Pharmacotherapy for Insomnia. In: Sedky, K., Nazir, R., Bennett, D. (eds) Sleep Medicine and Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44447-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44447-1_6

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