Poor Reaction to Stress Predicts Insomnia

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Poor Reaction to Stress Predicts Insomnia

Individuals who cope with stress by using drugs or alcohol or by engaging in self-distraction vs adopting a head-on approach are at increased risk of developing insomnia, new research shows.

A study of nearly 3000 participants with no history of insomnia at baseline showed that those who did not deal directly with stressful events were more likely to experience insomnia at 1-year follow-up.

Substance use, self-distraction, and having recurrent thoughts about the stressor, described as cognitive intrusion, were also significant mediators of incident insomnia. In fact, cognitive intrusion “accounted for 69% of the total effect on insomnia,” investigators report.

“Quite a bit of this was surprising, especially about self-distraction,” lead author Vivek Pillai, PhD, from the Sleep Disorders and Research Center at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan.

Psychologists often recommend self-distraction, such as watching TV or going to the movies, to take your mind off of a stressful event. But there’s been some debate as to whether or not that’s just a short-term alternative to actual coping,” he said.

Dr. Pillai added that this is the first study to show that self-distraction actually increases insomnia risk.

The study was published in the July 1 issue of Sleep.

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