Role of behavioral techniques in patients with insomnia and headache

Behavioral treatments focus exclusively on modifying environmental contexts/contingencies and patterns of behavior that presumably exacerbate symptoms and functional impairment. Cognitive-behavioral treatments (CBTs), by comparison, include a focus on behavior modification and an emphasis on modifying maladaptive patterns of thinking. There are central elements of CBT and self-management, which cut across treatment for specific psychiatric disorders and headache disorders. In many cases, insomnia occurs when there is another problem, such as stress, pain, or a medical condition. In these cases, treatment of the underlying problem may help to improve sleep. In other cases, the causative factor of insomnia is unclear or the insomnia does not improveeven after the treatment of the coexisting problem. Hence, the insomnia itself requires to be particularlytreated.