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Too wired to sleep? Don’t switch off, switch on: A New Research Trial by BlackDog Institute Researchers is Using the Internet to Improve SleepAssociate Professor Lee Ritterband, Director ofthe Behavioral Health and Technology Centre at theUniversity of Virginia, presented his research on usingthe internet to treat insomnia.He is collaborating with the Black Dog Instituteon the NHMRC-funded ‘Good Night Study’ that aimsto use internet-based insomnia interventions to reducedepression and improve wellbeing. The programwhich he and others developed, called ‘SHUTi’, enablesusers to identify and monitor their sleep patternsand to learn how to overcome insomnia.Nearly everyone has experienced poor sleepat some stage in their lives and it’s common to suffershort periods of insomnia during illness, periods ofstress or travel.Unfortunately, up to one third of all Australiansreport ongoing problems with either falling asleep orstaying asleep, and this proportion rises significantlyfor people with depression and anxiety.Treatment for poor sleep is often based aroundmedication, a solution that can only be used shortterm. Recent research has proven that simple cognitivebehavioural techniques are a highly effectivealternative. These techniques focus on identifying andchanging the behaviours and patterns of thinking thatinterfere with good sleep.Traditionally, these techniques have only beenavailable via face-to-face clinical sessions but the‘Good Night Study’ led by Professor Helen Christensenat the Black Dog Institute is making it accessible to allby taking them online.The ‘Good Night Study’ is one of the first in theworld to investigate an online psychological interventioninto insomnia and depression.The study uses a specialist internet programdeveloped by researchers at the University of Virginia,USA. ‘SHUTi’ enables users to identify and monitortheir sleep patterns whilst gently leading them througha series of learning modules.According to Associate Professor Ritterband,preliminary results have already shown SHUTi to beeffective and potentially able to serve as a front lineweapon in the battle against insomnia.Pictured, Associate Professor Lee Ritterband58