Study by Northcentral University PhD shows hypnosis effective therapy for pain-related insomnia in older adults

The modern American teenager's biggest growing pain might be lack of sleep, but the growing-older pain of chronic insomnia is reaching near-epidemic proportions among the nation's elderly.

Self-imposed sleep deprivation among U.S. youth and adults 50 and younger is rampant, according to a dozen studies released the past 18 months. But, as the country's nearly 4 million octogenarians are finding out, a good night's sleep is harder to come by than a pint of Paregoric.

Sleep is the natural elixir required at any age, but its restorative qualities prove more elusive with age, especially for older adults with chronic pain, says Dr. Judy Kelly, a social worker and integrative psychotherapist who received her Doctoral degree from Northcentral University this past spring.

"Although nearly everyone of any age is aware of the deleterious effects of little or no sleep, the elderly are particularly susceptible to its multiplier effect on their quality of life,” Dr. Kelly said after her dissertation was named one of Northcentral's three "Best of the Year.”

"Pain at night when you want to be — and need to be — asleep is nothing short of exhausting for anyone,” Dr. Kelly said, noting that prescribed pain medications, for all their benefits, can have their own set of sleep-robbing side effects.

"The situation can become particularly problematic with comorbid chronic pain, or pain that occurs at the same time as one disorder but isn't related to it,” she said.

Dr. Kelly's study examines a more natural way for chronically ill elderly to fall and stay asleep — hypnosis. Results reported in her dissertation, entitled Efficacy of Hypnosis for the Treatment of Comorbid Chronic Pain and Insomnia in Older Adults, shows that 81 percent of participants in a 21-day hypnotic protocol for comorbid chronic pain and insomnia reported they slept significantly to somewhat better.

"Chronic pain and insomnia are two common health conditions that compromise quality of life and successful aging,” Dr. Kelly said.

"And once pain keeps you awake one night, it is likely to again and again. In addition to preventing a person from falling asleep, pain also results in difficulty in staying asleep,” she said. Among older adults, insomnia is often comorbid with medical illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's disease, congestive heart failure, stroke, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cancer.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, two out of three people with chronic pain have trouble sleeping. About a third of adults in the United States report occasional insomnia, and 10 to 15 percent suffer from it chronically.

Social work is Dr. Kelly's second career. She spent nearly 25 years as a computer specialist and marketing researcher. The past 10 years she has made the health and well-being of seniors an avocation as well as a new vocation with Project FIND, a supportive housing network for formerly homeless adults age 55 and older. She also spent just over a year as a mental health counselor for Women In Need, Inc.

"Within the coming decades, the projected increase in the number of older adults will be accompanied by an increase in age-related health care issues,” Dr. Kelly said, noting that many seniors she works with take 10 to 15 medications a day. "Although pharmacotherapy is commonly prescribed for these conditions,” she said, "myriad problems associated with pharmacotherapy suggest the need for more benevolent treatments.”

Dr. Kelly was a Dissertation of the Year award winner at the June 2011 Northcentral University commencement. She earned her PhD in Behavioral and Health Sciences specializing in Health Psychology.