Getting a good night’s sleep can be extremely difficult – just look at all of the different remedies available today. According to a report from UPI, however, the American College of Physicians has released updated guidelines for people hoping to get some shuteye, and they don’t involve sleeping pills.

The new guidelines recommend that people look to cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, to treat chronic insomnia. The ACP recommends that all people attempt to remedy insomnia with CBT before consulting with their doctors about prescribed sleeping aids.

According to the president of the American College of Physicians Dr. Wayne Riley, “We know chronic insomnia is a real problem that patients present within our doctors’ offices. We want to get away from the overtendency to prescribe sleep medications, and clear CBT can be a very nice tool in the toolkit.”

Insomnia, or the inability to fall asleep and stay asleep at night, affects nearly ten percent of adults. It more commonly affects women and older adults, and can result in fatigue, a foggy mind and a bad mood during the day. Insomnia leads to a significant drop in productivity in the workplace, says the ACP, as people are often too tired to carry on with their responsibilities throughout the day.

According to Dr. Nathaniel Watson from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, CBT can be extremely effective at treating chronic insomnia. “The major advantage of CBT is it has long-lasting effects and teaches patients how to manage their insomnia symptoms and difficulties.”

CBT offers huge advantages over popular sleep medications like Valium, Ambien or Lunesta – one of the biggest being that there is little risk for developing a dependence on an expensive drug to fall asleep. CBT only takes four to six sessions to complete, and is significantly less expensive than a month’s supply of sleeping pills.

The recent guidelines were published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

A press release from the American College of Physicians describing the new guidelines can be found here.