Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Interview with Barry Krakow, Sleep Psychologist
Aired May 07, 2002 - 09:56 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The "Big Question" at this hour: are you having trouble sleeping since 9/11? Well, a new study just released says some 10 percent of New York City's 4th through 12th graders, tens of thousands of kids, have suffered post-traumatic stress disorders, including nightmares. And we wondered if the same thing could be said of kids across the country, and here is what some of them told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I get some nightmares a lot, about the accident that happened, and I feel like I'm the airplane and I crash.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Well, when it first happened, I really (AUDIO GAP)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: And according to my next guest, the sleep problem is bigger than most people understand, and does not just end with children. Adults, too, are suffering. And joining us now is Dr. Barry Krakow, a psychiatrist and director of the Sleep and Human Health Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the author of the book "Insomnia Cures," and he is here in New York treating trauma survivors suffering with sleep disorders. Nice to meet you in person. I know we counted on you after September 11 for some advice along the way.
How much of a problem is this across the country for kids and adults related to the 9/11 crisis?
DR. BARRY KRAKOW, DIRECTOR, SLEEP AND HUMAN HEALTH INSTITUTE: It's very large. With respect to sleep disorders in general, the National Sleep Foundation poll just a month ago showed that 74 percent of Americans have trouble with insomnia, sleep breathing problems...
ZAHN: 74 percent?
KRAKOW: 74 percent reported on a weekly basis problems with sleep breathing, sleep movement, insomnia, or sleep quality. And that number actually had risen from a previous poll that was taken before 9/11.
ZAHN: So there is a relationship...
KRAKOW: There is a relationship.
ZAHN: ... to the rise in number of people having trouble sleeping. So, what do we do about it?
KRAKOW: The single most important thing is to recognize that sleep disorders take on a life of their own, even though there is a traumatic component. In other words, the trauma may cause it, or it may worsen it. By focusing on the trauma, you often can't relieve the sleep problems because the sleep problems have gone on for too long, they now become chronic in their own right.
So, you actually have to address the sleep problem itself -- insomnia, nightmares, and so on, and by doing that, your chances of improving the sleep is infinitely better. Psychotherapy medication, they're all important things, and they help people to recover from trauma and the grief from 9/11, but psychotherapy and medication may be very ineffective in actually helping somebody to overcome their sleep problem.
ZAHN: So what do you do with a little 5 or 6-year-old who can't get this very fresh vision of what happened on 9/11 out of their heads? I mean, we have all had the problem with our kids at home. If you don't want to go the psychotherapy route, is there anything short of that you can do to help your children sleep better, and then take some of the fear out of their lives?
KRAKOW: Children often have disturbing images and nightmares, as do adults, and the treatment that we have talked about before, image rehearsal, where people learn how to overcome their nightmares, it turns out that children are very good at using this technique. You just ask them to think about some new images to plant in their mind. You ask them to change their dreams. Adults take...
ZAHN: Just before they go to bed?
KRAKOW: Anytime of day. They can do it when they wake up, they can do it in the middle of the day. They can do it before bed. It doesn't matter. They take the images that are disturbing them, and you say, Well, can you make up a new story about that. And I've done this with my own children, when they were 14 months old. I mean, people -- children will respond very quickly. Adults, interestingly, take much longer to try that instruction out. To them, it is just counterintuitive, How can you change the nightmare? You know, that is what happened.
ZAHN: Oh, it is very good advice. I hope everybody out there is listening to you. Sleep-deprived nation. We need your help. Dr. Krakow. Sorry you got a little shortchanged by all the arraignment proceedings going on. We really appreciate your coming by in person.
KRAKOW: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
