Predictors of Response to Insomnia Treatments for Gulf War Veterans

Behavioral Therapy will regulate time spent in bed based on information collected from sleep diaries during evaluation and treatment. Behavioral therapy is designed to improve sleep quality by matching opportunity for sleep to the amount of average total sleep calculated from sleep diaries. Once the quality of sleep has improved, sleep quantity is gradually increased by slowly increasing sleep opportunity. Stimulus control will strengthen the bed/sleep association by eliminating non-sleep activities from the bedroom.

Cognitive Therapy is designed to identify maladaptive beliefs about sleep, challenge their validity, and replace them with more adaptive thinking patterns. This therapy aims to reduce sleep-related worry, anxiety, and fear. The treatment phase of the study lasts six weeks. During treatment, you will meet with a study therapist for a total of six sessions: once per week for six consecutive weeks. Each session lasts approximately 60 minutes.