BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Nearly everyone has trouble sleeping once in a while. But for 10 percent of American adults, insomnia becomes a chronic problem, in which they consistently have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, which leads to serious daytime fatigue.

Patients fill millions of prescriptions each year for sleep aids such as Ambien, Lunesta and Sonata. But these drugs are just a short-term solution, according to a new study.

Researchers from Canada followed 160 patients with chronic insomnia for six months. Participants received either cognitive behavioral therapy alone or therapy plus the drug Ambien.

Through behavioral therapy, patients learned strategies such as going to bed only when sleepy, avoiding caffeine before bed, and rising at the same time every morning.

Doctors also debunked some "sleep myths" for patients -- for example, some people continue to believe that not everyone requires 8 hours of sleep a night despite research to the contrary.

Results showed that patients fared the best when they started with medication and therapy, and then switched to therapy alone after six months.

Researchers said people who rely solely on medication don't learn the healthy sleep habits needed to banish insomnia for good.