I have heard it said that almost 100 million Americans do not routinely get a good nights sleep. Can you explain what causes insomnia and some suggestions as to what to do about it?
It is true that somewhere between 25 and 50% of Americans do not get adequate sleep. Many of these individuals simply not allocate enough time for sleep and it has been well proven that physiologically that all of us should get at least 8 hours or a bit more of sleep per day. In any questionnaire about sleep, most people respond they get somewhere around 7 hours or less. It is also true that some very highly functioning individuals, Einstein perhaps being the most famous, got by on as little as two or 3 hours a night and felt that they were simply wasting time by going to bed. Physiologists now might ask themselves imagine what accomplishments they could have done having gotten adequate sleep. Sleep disorders do account however, for a great number of us who are not sleeping adequately. Insomnia is a common disorder and is often caused by anxiety or medications one is taking. Furthermore insomnia may be a primary disorder and not the result of sleep apnea or any major pathologic problem
