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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Andrew Gregory Health editor

Insomniacs in England to be offered app treatment instead of sleeping pills

A woman in bed.
Behavioural interventions aim to promote a healthy sleep routine. Photograph: Microgen Images/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF

Hundreds of thousands of people struggling to sleep are to be offered treatment via an app instead of sleeping pills in the biggest shake-up of guidelines for insomnia in decades.

Until now, people with insomnia have typically been given advice about sleep hygiene or prescribed sleeping pills. Now they could be offered a £45 app-based treatment programme on the NHS instead of pills, under new guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

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