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Sleepless in cyberspace: A thematic analysis of online sleep recommendations for insomnia symptoms
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Social and Psychological Studies (from 2013). Örebro University, Sweden.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5749-0774
Örebro University, Sweden.
Örebro University, Sweden.
Örebro University, Sweden; Kristianstad University, Sweden.
2025 (English)In: Sleep Health, ISSN 2352-7218, E-ISSN 2352-7226Article in journal (Refereed) In press
Abstract [en]

Objectives: Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in adults. About 10% of adults meet the diagnostic criteria, and about 30% suffer from subclinical symptoms. Seeking advice online is common when having health issues. There are no previous studies on Swedish Internet forums regarding types of advice and the logic behind the recommendations given for how to handle troubled sleep. The purpose of the study was to examine which treatment methods for insomnia symptoms were recommended by forum users on the Swedish Internet forum Flashback. Methods: A thematic analysis was conducted on 1174 posts. Results: The analysis resulted in four themes: (1) Advice on healthcare, (2) Bedtime and sleep environment strategies, (3) Implement long-term lifestyle changes, and (4) Advice on nonprescribed, legal, or illegal drugs. Notably, a large portion of the recommendations provided emphasized the utilization of pharmacological interventions, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, supplements, illegal substances, or combinations of these. This despite the fact that many advice givers attributed insomnia to psychological causes such as stress. Conclusions: Insight into recommendations given on Internet forums is important for healthcare personnel; advice might shape patients’ sleep habits as well as expectations on insomnia treatments.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025.
Keywords [en]
Advice, Insomnia, Internet forum, Qualitative, Sleep, Thematic analysis
National Category
Health Sciences
Research subject
Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-105931DOI: 10.1016/j.sleh.2025.04.008Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105007552808OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-105931DiVA, id: diva2:1978005
Available from: 2025-06-26 Created: 2025-06-26 Last updated: 2025-06-26Bibliographically approved

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Störe, Siri Jakobsson

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