Broadening the Scope

Hi everyone and welcome back to week 2 of my senior project blogs! This week we have quite a few updates. I went into the VA on Tuesday – Building 520, the Psychiatry Department that I had interned 2 years ago. I met the veterans again and introduced myself to some new ones. Sometimes I’ll sit in on group therapy sessions and listen to the issues they’re having in rehabilitation currently. Dr. Yorkwilliams and I discussed how to introduce Insomnia Coach to these veterans, and I demoed it for a few of them as a trial run. As of now, the veterans are mostly seeming to get the hang of it but I will need to check in next week to see how well they are grasping the program that the app puts you through. 

I have been doing more research on the topic. Smith et al. (2019) – “Bidirectional Relationship between Sleep Disturbances and Addiction: Implications for Rehabilitation” argue that sleep disturbances contribute to the development of addictive behaviors, but they can also serve as barriers to successful recovery. There is still a gap, though, in understanding the specific mechanisms through which interventions like CBT-I can effectively mitigate sleep disturbances and facilitate recovery. My research methodology involves direct engagement with veterans undergoing addiction recovery and the integration of personalized CBT-I interventions. Walker and van der Helm (2019) – “Neurobiological Mechanisms Linking Sleep and Addiction” also assert that there are neurobiological mechanisms linking sleep and addiction. Disruptions in sleep patterns can lead to alterations in brain regions associated with reward processing and decision-making, increasing vulnerability to addictive behaviors. And Johnson et al. (2020) – “Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions in Improving Sleep Outcomes among Individuals in Addiction Recovery” agree that cognitive-behavioral interventions, such as CBT-I, are effective in improving sleep outcomes among individuals in addiction recovery by targeting maladaptive sleep behaviors and cognitive processes underlying sleep disturbances.

But as we were discussing the Insomnia Coach app, we realized that numerous apps could have even more power. I studied the VA website and realized that more mobile apps, including PTSD Coach, AIMS for Anger Management, Mindfulness Coach, and more, could be extremely useful in the rehabilitation program. I look forward to introducing these and observing how these apps, which give similar advice to therapy but are much more convenient and less time-consuming, have an effect in the mental health rehabilitation at the VA.