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Insomnia is basically an inability to sleep and/or to remain asleep for a reasonable period. It gives the feeling of daytime fatigue and impairs normal performance. People with insomnia can’t sleep despite being tired, and when they do sleep, it’s a light, fitful sleep that leaves them tired when they awake. Sometimes they simply wake up too early.

Here are common symptoms:
•    Frequent headaches
•    Irritability
•    Lack of concentration
•    Sleeping better away from home
•    Taking longer than 30 or 40 minutes to fall asleep
•    Feeling tired and not refreshed upon waking
•    Waking repeatedly during the night
•    Waking very early and not being able to fall back to sleep
•    Only being able to sleep using sleeping pills or alcohol

Insomniacs could be the product of our stress-filled society. It is common knowledge that those with insomnia complain of being unable to close their eyes or rest their minds for any length of time. Often, they are plagued with problems and to-do lists that never got done, worries and concerns that float around in their mind.

Some may only have insomnia for a few nights running, but sometimes it lasts longer. In fact, the affliction is often categorized by how long it lasts. Here are the different types:

• Transient insomnia lasts for a few days.
• Short-term insomnia lasts no more than three weeks.
• Chronic insomnia occurs when a person has difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or experiences non-refreshing sleep for at least three nights a week for one month or longer. Normal daily functioning is usually impaired.

When insomnia is the sole complaint of a patient it is considered Primary Chronic Insomnia. But there are also secondary disorders such as:

• Sleep apnea - A sleep disorder caused by difficulty breathing during sleep. For more information, visit sleepapnea.org.
• Restless Legs Syndrome - A sleep disorder characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs or feet.  These can be a creeping sensation, a burning, itching, or tugging feeling. Moving the legs around seems to relieve it. For more information, visit rls.org .

Sometimes certain drugs and medications can create sleep disturbance. This can happen either when taking the medication or while withdrawing from it.

When a person has some emotional difficulties, he can have trouble sleeping. If you find that when you go to bed and lay there worrying about numerous matters or if you are extremely sad or have a loss of interest, and this goes on for a number of weeks, you should consult your physician. Sometimes insomnia is defined as an inability to sleep at conventional times. There is a condition where people fall asleep very late at night or in early morning hours, but then they sleep normally. Or sometimes, as occurs with older people, they have excessive sleepiness in the morning or awaken very early in the morning.

It might help to look at the basic sleep patterns. Doctors use common patterns to identify specific problems.

It should be a very simple thing to go to sleep. How difficult should something be that is an innate ability? It shouldn’t take a lot of efforts at all.  It’s an inborn ability, along with our other bodily functions.  When we’re newborns, we can eat, sleep and wet the bed. Our automatic functions continue throughout our lives.

So you should just be able to close your eyes, relax and you are off to dreamland.  But this is not an option for many, many people. Sleep doesn’t come as easy as that.

There are approximately 60 million people who suffer from insomnia. These are statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and considered accurate.  When you break that down, that means insomnia affects approximately 40 percent of all women and 30 percent of all men.

This condition seems to drive some people to the edge of madness, as they fight to get enough sleep. The effects can be devastating to those afflicted, and as F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.” There are so many with the affliction that sleep clinics have sprung up all over the country in an effort to help.

Overcoming insomnia may not be easy, but there is hope. Inside this book, we are going to explore the subject in depth to help you get a good night’s sleep!

Stay tuned for more!