This Book Will <i> Really</i> Put You to Sleep : NO MORE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS The Complete Program for Ending Insomnia <i> by Peter Hauri and Shirley Linde (John Wiley & Sons: $19.95; 258 pp.; 0-471-50770-9) </i>

Lose 50 pounds in two days! Look 20 years younger! Pick the winning lottery number! Pick up girls! We are bombarded by the “Magic Bullet,” the means to quickly cleanse our soul and transform us from troglodyte to debutante.

And now, “No More Sleepless Nights: The Complete Program for Ending Insomnia.” Is it only more hyperbole? Emphatically no. While no one can realistically promise you no more sleepless nights (and this book does not, despite its unfortunate title), “The Complete Program” conveys the current state of the art and science of the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia.

Mayo Clinic specialist Peter Hauri, considered by many to be the world’s foremost expert on insomnia, has teamed up with a popular writer to produce a generalized version of what sleep-disorders specialists do in sleep-disorders centers to diagnose and treat insomnia.

Since insomnia frequently is not a primary problem but rather a symptom of another underlying disorder, it takes some detective work to find the source of the problem. Hauri provides the reader with the tools (several questionnaires) and background to identify possible causes of sleep difficulty while avoiding technical terms as much as possible. Queries like “Do you worry in bed?” or “Do you do shiftwork?” or “Are you often . . . sad?” are included in the various scales, which range from sleep logs (no pun intended) and medical history to life-style, depression and anxiety forms. Your answers to the questions are discussed in a manner analogous to the internal thought process that a sleep-disorders professional might follow after asking you similar questions. The discussion or ratings serve to help you identify one or more factors which may be causing your poor sleep.

For example, you might identify a problem like “I drink a lot of coffee” and formulate a specific hypothesis: “Is my insomnia related to my coffee consumption?” While developing hypotheses is a fascinating cognitive exercise, the next step involves real footwork: You must conduct a systematic test of the hypotheses you have developed.

This is accomplished by having you record your sleep habits and sleep quality for a week or two without changing anything. Then make a change (for example, “I will start drinking two cups of coffee in the morning instead of 10-12 cups of coffee throughout the day”) for a week or two while continuing to track your sleep. By comparing your sleep following the days with decreased coffee consumption to your sleep on the days with increased coffee consumption, you may find that your sleep is improved when you drink less coffee. Then you know that coffee is at least partly responsible for your insomnia.

While Hauri never mentions it, “The Complete Program” is much more than a diagnostic tool. It is, in fact, a primer for Psychology 101 and the scientific method. In one of Hauri’s examples, a patient claimed to have no idea of what caused her to have good and poor nights of sleep. After initial consultation, she decided that exercise during the day, stress at work or telephone calls from her mother could be causing her sleep problem. After charting her sleep, exercise, work stress and telephone calls for a week, she found that her sleep was poor on some weekend nights (and therefore not completely related to work stress) and that she slept well after some exercise days but not after others. However, her worst night of sleep came after a phone call from her mother. At this point, another set of logs charting interactions with mother might confirm the initial impression. The point is that systematic observation can reveal relationships which are not readily apparent to us and can give us more ideas to test.

The major strength of “The Complete Program” is that if you are willing to invest the time to become a trained observer of your own sleep behavior, you will begin to understand what makes your sleep worse. This step is significant. The next step--for example, changing your life by reconciling a mother-daughter conflict--may be both more challenging and more worthwhile.

The major weaknesses of Hauri’s method are the same as those faced by sleep-disorders professionals attempting to treat patients with insomnia. Too often patients want a magic pill. They are unwilling to make the changes needed to improve their sleep, such as stopping smoking or going to bed early on weekends.

Denying a problem is equally defeating. While 50% of patients with insomnia will fall into the category of depression, they will be just as likely as clinic patients to deny depression and will grab at other explanations for their insomnia. Unfortunately, testing other hypotheses may not help their insomnia, and their depression may worsen while valuable time is lost pursuing the wrong hypothesis. Patients with other significant sleep disorders also may be unable to correctly identify with the diagnosis Hauri presents, and risk increased problems by delaying a visit to their doctor.

If you suffer from insomnia, if you have the courage to take a hard look at yourself and your life style, and if you have the resolve to devote the time required to analyze your behavior over time, “The Complete Program” is an important investment in your health and happiness. However, when you buy the book, make three significant commitments: 1) to read the book and objectively rate yourself; 2) to discuss your insomnia problem with your “significant other” and to listen to his or her suggestions; 3) to seek professional help if the book does not seem to be alleviating the problem.

While Hauri’s intriguing analyses often seem more conducive to insomnia than slumber, it is an insomnia which can result in the sleep of your dreams.