Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Neurofeedback: Reducing Insomnia Symptoms

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The term sleep disorder refers to difficulty in initiating sleep, maintaining it or a relaxing sleep despite having enough time to sleep. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a non-drug multi-dimensional treatment that targets behavioral and cognitive factors of this disorder. Some pieces of research have shown that psychiatric and neurological disorders can be distinguished from distinct EEG patterns and neuro-feedback can be used to make a change in these patterns. This study aimed to compare the cognitive behavioral therapy and neuro-feedback in the treatment of insomnia.METHODS: The sample included people, who had already been diagnosed insomnia by a psychiatrist in Isfahan, Iran. Random sampling was employed to choose the participants. Pittsburg sleep quality index (PSQI) was used for the selection of the participants, too. The sample included 40 patients who were randomly selected and interviewed and then diagnostic tests performed on the PSQI, and then they were divided into 3 groups. Data were analyzed using ANOVA. Following the implementation of the independent effect of the treatment was significant and one-way ANOVA with post hoc test L.S.D were carried out on CBT and controls (p = 0.001), CBT, neuro-feedback therapy (p = 0.003), neuro-feedback treatment and control (p = 0.001).RESULTS: It was shown that there was a significant difference between the groups. Based on the descriptive statistics of the 2 abovementioned treatments, neuro-feedback therapy in first position and cognitive-behavioral therapy were most effective in the second position, and the control group showed the lowest efficiency.CONCLUSIONS: Both treatments were significantly effective, and so we can use both neuro-feedback and CBT for the treatment of insomnia.