CBT-I: The First-Line Treatment for Chronic Insomnia (the integrated program)

Summary

For **chronic insomnia** (trouble sleeping ≥3 nights/week for ≥3 months), the guideline-recommended **first-line treatment is not a pill — it's CBT-I**, a short, structured, multi-component behavioural program (sleep restriction + stimulus control + cognitive therapy + relaxation + sleep hygiene) that fixes the *perpetuating* factors keeping insomnia alive; it matches sleeping pills in the short term, **beats them in the long term**, and — crucially — its effects **persist after treatment ends**, which is exactly what hypnotics cannot do.