Despite being common issues, insomnia and other sleep disorders are not generally well understood by doctors and other health care professionals.
Now the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) has released up-to-the-minute guidelines in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, published by SAGE, to guide psychiatrists and physicians caring for those with sleep problems.
BAP members, representative clinicians with a strong interest in sleep disorders and experts from the US and Europe got together in May 2009 in London, England to share their knowledge of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders. As well as a chance to share literature reviews and clinical trial data, the event gave experts the opportunity to reach a consensus on the best current treatments for sleep disorders. The BAP then used this and further rounds of consultation with the event participants to create its guidelines, BAP consensus statement on evidence-based treatment of insomnia, parasomnias and circadian rhythm disorders, which the organisation hopes will present a comprehensive guide to clinicians, who are managing patients in primary or secondary medical care.
Sleep experts agree that insomnia is a condition of unsatisfactory sleep, either in terms of sleep onset, sleep maintenance or early waking. They also agree that insomnia is a disorder that impairs daytime well-being and subjective abilities and functioning, and so can be considered a '24-hour' disorder. Insomnia can also be viewed as a syndrome similar to pain, because it is subjective and its diagnosis is through clinical observations rather than measurements. In some cases physicians will be unable to pinpoint a cause, although this doesn't prevent diagnosis.
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