A breakthrough in tackling insomnia, which affects one in 10 adults, has been made through a pioneering Scottish research programme which halved the amount of medication taken by sufferers.

Key to the solution, widely welcomed by health profes-sionals, was for insomniacs to spend less time in bed.

The man behind the study called for insomnia to be recognised as a public health issue like poor diet, and for cognitive behaviour therapy courses to be more widely available.

Professor Colin Espie, director of the Glasgow Sleep Centre at Glasgow University, said: "The biggest concern we have about it is the more we ignore insomnia as a problem the public are presenting needing help with, the more we run the risk of building up long-term mental health problems."

For the study, just published in research journal Sleep, health visitors led insomniacs through a five-hour course of cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) which significantly restricts the time people spend attempting to snooze.

These patients experienced more than a 30% improvement when it came to falling and remaining asleep, while a group of insomniacs who did not receive the programme experienced no significant change.

Professor Espie said: "These kind of effects are at least as good or better than a sleeping pill when it is working at its best." He explained the programme worked by helping people allow sleep to occur naturally again.

He said: "What a good sleeper is often doing is resisting sleep and allowing it to be something that overtakes them, whereas bad sleepers try to evoke sleep, which encourages it to go away."

Dr Michael Smith, spokesman for the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland, said: "Insomnia is a very common complaint that many people find difficult to manage. If there is a cost-effective alternative to medicines then that would be welcome."

Shona Neil, chief executive of mental health charity SAMH, said: "I think we need to provide people with alternatives to drugs. GPs are getting much better at not prescribing sedatives generally because there are a number of problems with them, but very often if people are desperate and cannot get referred to any other source of help, there may be a temptation to rely on them."

Dr Mairi Scott, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs in Scotland, said: "I think every time we get additional evidence that points us in the right direction in terms of treatment options, it is good."

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said its sleep disorders service treats hundreds of patients each year. This includes people with conditions other than insomnia, such as narcolepsy.

The health board also said that CBT is offered to treat patients suffering conditions such as stress, anxiety and depression, many of which are linked to sleeping problems.