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Cut down pills, expert tells troubled sleepers
Mitchell Ginsburg

Prof. Peretz Lavie, director of the Technion sleep research lab, has some advice for the many Americans reported to be suffering from sleep disorders in the wake of the September 11 attacks: You�re almost certainly sleeping better than you think -- so cut down on pills, stop rehashing your trauma, and turn off the tube.

Lavie�s prescription is based in part on research from the Gulf War, when falling missiles had many Israelis reporting that they weren�t sleeping well. Lavie relates that in a nation-wide telephone survey conducted during the war, participants complained sharply of increased sleeping disorders. But when he monitored 70 Israelis� sleep using a small device each subject could use at home, he found that physiologically, they were sleeping normally despite the anxiety of missile attacks. What changed during the war was people�s subjective sense of how they were sleeping -- a change that pushed some to pop pills.

"People who are anxious when they go to bed are also anxious when they rise," says Lavie. Therefore, he explains, it is critical to reduce anxiety rather than to use drugs.

According to a recent report cited by the Technion, demand for sleeping pills has risen by 30 percent in New York City since September 11. But Lavie is certain that proper "sleep hygiene," rather than medication, holds the key: The first step is to steer clear of television. Then there is what Lavie terms "imagery guidance" -- practicing thinking of positive rather than scary pictures.

The prevailing notion among psychiatrists has been to deal with, rather than avoid, trauma. But according to Lavie, the evidence is conclusive to the contrary. "In fact," he says, "well-adjusted Holocaust survivors are the ones who do not recall their dreams and do not speak about their trauma."

(January 28, 2002)

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