Tinnitus Treament: Clinical Protocols: Ch 6: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL MANAGEMENT OF TINNITUS-RELATED INSOMNIA.

Insomnia is a sleep-wake disorder that can involve a range of problems. These include difficulty in getting to sleep, staying asleep, waking too early; insufficient duration of sleep, or feeling that sleep is non-restorative or otherwise of poor quality. These problems occur despite an adequate opportunity to sleep. Insomnia has daytime effects that can include impaired functioning, tiredness, and distress. Like tinnitus, insomnia is very prevalent in the general population (Shapiro & Dement, 1993), affecting up to 30% of adults (Morphy, Dunn, Boardman & Croft, 2007). Sleep disturbance is one of the most important aspects of tinnitus complaint amongst adults (McKenna, 2000; Tyler and Baker, 1983) and children (Gabriels, 1995; Kentish, Crocker & McKenna, 2000), with most studies indicating at least 40% of tinnitus patients report insomnia (Asnis et al., 2018). Tinnitus tends to be more distressing when it is associated with difficulties sleeping (Axelsson & Ringdahl, 1989; Folmer & Griest, 2000; Hallam, 1996; Miguel, Yaremchuk, Roth & Peterson, 2014; Scott, Lindberg, Lennart & Lyttkens, 1990; Schecklemann et al., 2015). There is an obvious need to address the issue of tinnitus-related insomnia and its management, and recent research suggests that a cognitive behavioural approach is likely to be effective.