Having lived with chronic insomnia for more than 10 years, Sylvia Bourque came to dread nightfall.

"I became very frantic, because I was thinking, well, right away, wow, like night is coming again and I will see the ceiling for three or four hours," she said.

"The impact of chronic insomnia is that it reduces quality of life, it impairs daytime functioning but beyond that, chronic insomnia is a risk factor for major depression," Dr. Charles Mortin of Laval University said.

Because there is no proven long-term treatment for insomnia, Quebec researchers wanted to see if a type of psychological treatment and medication would help.

"Cognitive behavioral therapy or C.B.T. in short is a therapeutic approach aimed at changing poor sleep habits and irregular sleep schedules and also changing the way people think about their sleep and their insomnia," Dr. Mortin said.

Participants were taught to avoid unrealistic sleep expectations, restrict their time in bed and get up at the same time daily.

Changes in their sleep habits were measured with sleep lab assessments as well as self-reported sleep diaries.

The results are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

The study found the best results were achieved with a combined approach - CBT in and medication during the first six weeks of treatment, followed by a further six months of CBT alone.

"If you continue with medication, then people are less likely to invest time and effort in changing their sleep habits," Dr. Mortin said.

Now cured of her insomnia, Sylvia Bourque still relies on CBT methods if she happens to wake up at night.

"I will do exactly what Dr. Mortin said to me, to get up, to do an activity like reading or listening to soft music that will lead me to go back to sleep," she said.  "And it does work."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Dr. Rhonda Low