Managing daytime sleepiness with the help of sleepcoaching, a non-pharmacological treatment of non-restorative sleep

Abstract

Purpose To measure the effect of a 2-day sleepcoaching seminar on daytime sleepiness and sleep-related variables of shift workers employed in an Austrian railway company (ÖBB: Österreichische Bundesbahnen). Method Participants filled in pre-and post-intervention questionnaires, containing items of the PSQI and the ESS, questions about chronotype, personality factors and possible burnout risk factors. About 30 shift workers, working in shifts for more than 300 months on average (28 male; mean age = 24 ± 45.90, age range 24-56 years) voluntarily took part in the investigation twice. Sleep coaching by Holzinger and Kloesch™ (SC) is a new holistic approach for non-pharmacological treatment of nonrestorative sleep and is based on Gestalt therapy. It includes psychotherapeutic aspects, which enable clients to improve their sleep quality by developing one's own coping strategies which can be implemented in daily routine. Dream work and relaxation techniques are also part of the programme. Results The 2-day SC seminar was beneficial by focusing on the sleep problems related to shift work. A significant improvement of the global PSQI score and the PSQI variables subjective sleep quality, diurnal fatigue, and sleep latency was achieved, with a medium effect size. However, the programme did not result in the reduction of daytime sleepiness (ESS). Six more variables did not change significantly. Conclusion While some sleep problems related to shift work were successfully addressed by SC, daytime sleepiness (ESS) could not be reduced contrary to our expectations. More research with a greater sample and a longitudinal design is needed to examine the long-term effects of SC.

Case Report: Why Sleep and Dream Related Psychological Treatments, Such as Sleepcoaching (According to Holzinger&Klösch) and CBT-I Should Be Implemented in Treatment Concepts in the Public Health System—Description of the Nightmare Treatment Process in the Context of PTSD

“…Nevertheless, well-balanced drug treatment is sometimes supportive in combination with CBT-I and sleepcoaching by catalyzing additional improvement. Studies confirmed that several sleep measures improved after just a 2 day seminar on sleepcoaching (Holzinger et al, 2019a ). This gets additional support as not only nightmares of Mrs. L. seemed to shift but other psychological problems as well.…”

“…Limitations of the LD and sleepcoaching approach are that they need further empirical proof. Even though sleepcoaching has been proved useful in shift workers (Holzinger et al, 2019a ) and healthy subjects (Holzinger et al, 2019a ), it should be further researched in the context of other sleep and mental health problems. We suggest that patient groups with sleep problems like narcolepsy and obstructive sleep apnea would benefit from the program.…”

“…LD is characterized by a person being aware that he/she is dreaming and by voluntary control over the dream plot (Holzinger, 2008 ). Lucid dreaming as a treatment for nightmares is part of our holistic approach called sleepcoaching, which is based on Gestalt Therapy (Holzinger and Klösch, 2013 ; Holzinger et al, 2019a , b ). Sleepcoaching consists of four elements: sleep education and sleep hygiene, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), relaxation techniques, including medical hypnosis, and dream work, including LD techniques.…”

Forecasting Social, Geopolitical, and Economic Events Using the Banchenko Technology (Banchenko Algorithm, Banchenko Mnemonic Synchronization): 'Banchenko-Market' (Market of Predictions, Lucid Dreams, and Other Transcendental States of Consciousness Allowing High-Probability Forecasts)

“…In our study, we relied on a wide range of scientific works concerning the topic of dreaming and lucid dreams. Within the scientific community, the study of dreams can be thematically categorized as follows: general sleep and dream research [17,18,33,34], philosophy of dreams [21,28 ], psychology of dream [22,25,27,31], neurobiological, and biophysical approach to dream [19,26,29,30], dreams as a gateway to subconsciousness [20, 23,24,32,35]. We draw your attention to the mass media outlet we have created, which has conducted a series of interviews with leading specialists in the field of sleep and dreams.…”