Sleep Difficulties and Insomnia: A Practical Guide

On average, we need about seven to eight hours of sleep a night to function optimally. In today’s fast paced and high stress society, a third of the population reports difficulties with sleep, and about 10% of people report chronic insomnia, a condition that involves trouble falling or staying asleep, waking up in the middle of the night or too early in the morning, persistently poor sleep quality, and trouble functioning the next day. There are many reasons why people have trouble sleeping. High levels of stress, anxiety, and/or depression are often the culprit. Other possible causes include medical problems or conditions, chronic pain, use of certain medications, excessive use of alcohol, nicotine, or caffeine, or the presence of a more complicated sleep disorder View the rest of this article