Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Insomnia and workplace accidents

This article discusses research about insomnia and work place accidents. Since I don't have access to the article, I have to go on what the article say, and this is confusing. I'm confused because the author describes the condition as sleep loss and insomnia at the same time. People with insomnia are generally not sleepy - they may be fatigued, but don't doze off. That's why we say they have insomnia - they can't fall asleep (or fall back asleep after waking up). Insomniacs want to sleep more, but can't. This condition is very different from those that can sleep fine, but choose not to sleep enough. Those folks will be sleepy at work, but it's from sleep deprivation. Also, people with other sleep disorders, like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can have insomnia and sleepiness from the OSA.

I agree with the authors conclusion that sleep aids are not the best treatment for many with chronic insomnia - cognitive behavioral therapy is a better option. I also agree with screening workers for sleep disorders - but doing that is challenging and would probably be a topic for another post.

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