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Sleep enhances exposure therapy

Kleim, B. ; Wilhelm, F. H. ; Temp, L. ; Margraf, J. ; Wiederhold, B. K. ; Rasch, B.

In: Psychological Medicine, 2014, vol. 44, no. 7, p. 1511-1519

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    Titel
    • Sleep enhances exposure therapy
    Autor
    • Kleim, B.. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    • Wilhelm, F. H.. Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, and Health Psychology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
    • Temp, L.. University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
    • Margraf, J.. Center for the Study and Treatment of Mental Health, Department of Clinical Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
    • Wiederhold, B. K.. Virtual Reality Medical Center, San Diego, CA, USA
    • Rasch, B.. Department of Biopsychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
    Dokumententyp
    • Postprint
    Sprache
    • Englisch
    Veröffentlicht in
    • Psychological Medicine, 2014, vol. 44, no. 7, p. 1511-1519. Cambridge University Press
    Andere elektronische Ausgabe
    OAI-PMH-ID
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:302920
    Summary
    Background Sleep benefits memory consolidation. Here, we tested the beneficial effect of sleep on memory consolidation following exposure psychotherapy of phobic anxiety. Method A total of 40 individuals afflicted with spider phobia according to DSM-IV underwent a one-session virtual reality exposure treatment and either slept for 90min or stayed awake afterwards. Results Sleep following exposure therapy compared with wakefulness led to better reductions in self-reported fear (p=0.045, d=0.47) and catastrophic spider-related cognitions (p=0.026, d=0.53) during approaching a live spider, both tested after 1 week. Both reductions were associated with greater percentages of stage 2 sleep. Conclusions Our results indicate that sleep following successful psychotherapy, such as exposure therapy, improves therapeutic effectiveness, possibly by strengthening new non-fearful memory traces established during therapy. These findings offer an important non-invasive alternative to recent attempts to facilitate therapeutic memory extinction and consolidation processes with pharmacological or behavioral interventions