Study Objectives: Here we report our experience treating patients with narcolepsy using benzodiazepine receptor agonists (BzRA), zolpidem (Zol) or eszopiclone (Esz) taken at bedtime for both excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and cataplexy.
Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 53 patients diagnosed with narcolepsy, between 2002 and 2023. Twenty-three patients, 8 with type1 (NT1), 13 with type 2 (NT2) and 2 with secondary narcolepsy, were treated with BzRA's (20 Zol and 3 Esz).
Study Objectives: Fear of sleep contributes to insomnia in some individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) but remains uncharacterized in first responders, a population with high rates of insomnia and PTSD. We evaluated the clinical relevance of fear of sleep in first responders by (1) examining its relationship with trauma types and clinical symptoms and (2) assessing differences in fear of sleep severity between those reporting provisional PTSD, insomnia, or both.
Methods: A cross-sectional study of 242 first responders across the United States (59.
Treating insomnia during pregnancy improves sleep and depressed mood. However, given well-established links between poor sleep and a broad spectrum of adverse maternal outcomes, the benefits of insomnia care may reach beyond sleep and depression. The present study evaluated the preliminary efficacy of 'Perinatal Understanding of Mindful Awareness for Sleep' (PUMAS)-a mindfulness sleep programme tailored to pregnancy that combines behavioural sleep strategies and meditation-for enhancing everyday mindfulness and maternal-fetal attachment, as well as for alleviating anxiety, repetitive thinking, and sleep-related daytime impairment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Combining mindfulness with behavioral sleep strategies has been found to alleviate symptoms of insomnia and depression during pregnancy, but mechanisms for this treatment approach remain unclear. The present study examined nocturnal cognitive arousal and sleep effort as potential treatment mechanisms for alleviating insomnia and depression via a mindfulness sleep program for pregnant women.
Methods: Secondary analysis from a proof-of-concept trial of 12 pregnant women with DSM-5 insomnia disorder who were treated with Perinatal Understanding of Mindful Awareness for Sleep (PUMAS), which places behavioral sleep strategies within a mindfulness framework.
Objectives: Cognitive-behavioral therapy is effective for prenatal insomnia, but unresolved cognitive arousal limits patient outcomes. Therapies aimed at reducing cognitive arousal may benefit pregnant women with insomnia. This proof-of-concept trial evaluated Perinatal Understanding of Mindful Awareness for Sleep (PUMAS, which combines mindfulness with behavioral sleep strategies) on insomnia, depression, and cognitive arousal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSleep reactivity is a predisposition to sleep disturbance during environmental perturbations, pharmacological challenges, or stressful life events. Consequently, individuals with highly reactive sleep systems are prone to insomnia disorder after a stressor, engendering risk of psychopathology and potentially impeding recovery from traumatic stress. Thus, there is tremendous value in ameliorating sleep reactivity to foster a sleep system that is robust to stress exposure, ultimately preventing insomnia and its downstream consequences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: In the United States, Black women are disproportionately afflicted with prenatal insomnia. Although cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI) may represent a strategy to reduce disparities in insomnia, racial minorities attend fewer healthcare appointments and have poorer outcomes from prenatal care and mental health treatment relative to white patients. The present study examined differences in treatment engagement and patient-reported outcomes in non-Hispanic Black and white pregnant women receiving digital CBTI.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic is a rare stressor that has precipitated an accompanying mental health crisis. Prospective studies traversing the pandemic's onset can elucidate how pre-existing disease vulnerabilities augured risk for later stress-related morbidity. We examined how pre-pandemic sleep reactivity predicted maladaptive stress reactions and depressive symptoms in response to, and during, the pandemic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsychoneuroendocrinology
October 2022
Study Objectives: Vulnerability to stress-related sleep disturbances (sleep reactivity) is an established heritable risk factor for insomnia disorder with unclear biological underpinnings. Preliminary research points to a blunted cortisol response to stress as a biological predisposition to familial risk for insomnia, but the role of cortisol response in sleep reactivity is unknown. Therefore, the current studies examined whether sleep reactivity is associated with a blunted cortisol response to two laboratory stressors among participants without insomnia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Survivors of childhood abuse are prone to adult insomnia, but the mechanisms for this development are poorly understood. Abuse that occurs during sensitive developmental periods might affect risk for insomnia by impacting emerging stress regulatory processes. Sleep reactivity refers to the sensitivity of the sleep system to stress and is a robust risk factor for insomnia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: This study investigated preshooting emotion dysregulation and posttraumatic cognitions as predictors of mental health service utilization ([MHU]; i.e., therapy/medication) among undergraduate women following a campus mass shooting, controlling for time, age, and postshooting posttraumatic stress (PTS) and depressive symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Deficits in safety signal learning are well-established in fear-related disorders (e.g., PTSD, phobias).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough many women do not report sexual victimization as motivation for seeking self-defense training, differences in self-efficacy suggest that self-efficacy deficits may influence survivors' desire to seek training. Lower self-efficacy, thought to negatively influence perceived confidence in one's ability to engage in everyday activities, may relate to avoidance of mundane activities and cause exacerbation of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The current study examined a three-way interaction modeling the relationships between history of rape, activities self-efficacy, activities avoidance, and PTSS in a diverse sample of 233 women enrolled in self-defense training.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInstitutional betrayal reflects the failings of a trusted institution to prevent or respond appropriately to negative experiences. Following sexual assault, survivors who encounter institutional betrayal may experience greater distress and poorer functioning. The current study sought to assess the construct validity of the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire, Version 2 (IBQ.
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