Sleepy drivers: Analysis and therapy of seven cases

Seven car-drivers with frequent problems of staying awake while driving were studied. As an alternative to the usual drug therapy, a behavioral treatment was tried. The treatment consisted of training in active driving and covert conditioning of alertness responses. Follow-up after six and 24 months indicated that for 6 of the subjects the sleepiness while driving had diminished considerably. In a pseudo-control group of 5, 4 subjects were unaltered. For 4 of the subjects in the therapy group data from the behavior analysis favour a conditioning explanation of these subjects' drowsiness while driving. The behavior analysis also showed that some of the subjects also found difficulties in staying awake in other monotonous situations. In fact, some of the subjects might even be diagnosed as narcoleptics.