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It has been hard to avoid the credit crunch since it was first reported over a year ago, with the continuous media coverage about increased bank rates, job losses, and falling house prices.

Not surprisingly, money worries can easily affect our health and GPs are reporting increased numbers of consultations for what the popular press has named ‘credit crunch insomnia’. Jessica Alexander from The Sleep Council recently stated: ‘Sleep problems have seemed to increase in line with these current financial worries. Worry and stress affect people’s sleep. The troubled economy and threats of recession have created mass panic and hysteria even among people not directly affected yet.’

In this month’s Guidelines in Practice, Professor Kevin Morgan, Director of the Clinical Sleep Research Unit at Loughborough University, reviews the current guidance on insomnia, highlighting the key role that GPs can play in its management (click here). He discusses the importance of sleep hygiene advice, the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy, and the use of pharmacological therapy. Insomnia is associated with reduced quality of life and increased healthcare utilisation, and with the current increase in potential precipitating factors, now is a good time for GPs to update themselves on its management.

Julia Morris, Editor
julia.morris@mgp.ltd.ukG