Sometimes when you have trouble falling asleep, you start to feel anxious, even desperate, and alone. But nearly two-thirds of Americans face insomnia a few nights each week, reports the Seattle Times.
While the number of people reporting trouble sleeping has risen dramatically in the last decade, Donn Posner, a consultant for a sleep disorders center and a clinical assistant professor at Brown University School of Medicine, says insomniacs share some traits. They tend to believe they can overcome the problem themselves and don't seek help, says Posner in the article.
Help is what they need because insomnia is often a symptom of other problems, whether emotional or physical. Richard P. Millman, director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Lifespan Hospitals, says 40 percent of the people he treats have an underlying psychiatric problem. He says it's important to treat so-called transient insomnia early before it becomes chronic. And Millman says chronic insomnia can develop in less than a month, says the newspaper story.
The National Sleep Foundation has information about sleep, insomnia and other sleep disorders.
If you want to try to beat the problem on your own, this article from About.com has some techniques to try.
