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Why Can't You Sleep?: Understanding Sleep Problems

Summary & Participants

Getting a good night's sleep is critical to feeling refreshed during the day, but unfortunately not everyone is able to get the sleep they need. Different factors can contribute to lack of sleep-a noisy bedroom, stress or illness. When the problem persists help should be sought. Experts can suggest a wide range of treatment options including finding ways to change bedtime behaviors, and in some instances, medication.

Medically Reviewed On: July 17, 2008

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Getting a good night's sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle but for many Americans that restful break is hard to achieve.

GARY ZAMMIT, PhD: Probably more than half of all Americans experience a sleep problem at some time in their lives. Somewhere between 9 and 17% of the adult population will experience chronic or more ongoing difficulties with their sleep.

We know that insomnia affects older people more than it does younger people. It's more often reported in women, and it may be associated with certain medical or psychiatric conditions.

ANNOUNCER: A poor night's sleep can mean more than just tossing and turning.

GARY ZAMMIT, PhD: People with insomnia often complain of impairments in intellectual abilities like attention, memory or concentration, impairments in their mood, feeling depressed or irritable or anxious and impairment in their ability to function in the workplace, at home or even at school.

ANNOUNCER: Insomnia can manifest itself in a variety of ways.

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: Insomnia as difficulty sleeping during the night can occur at any point during the night really, although some people will have mainly difficulty falling asleep, other people will have mainly difficulties because of frequent awakenings during sleep. And in many cases, people will just have difficulty returning to sleep once they have awakened in the middle of the night.

ANNOUNCER: But what is a good night's sleep? The answer is different for everyone.

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: The amount of sleep is not defined by a certain number of hours, because different people need different amounts of sleep. There are certainly short sleepers and there are long sleepers. But the thing that categorizes adequate sleep is that the person's able to remain awake and to function well during the day.

ANNOUNCER: Many sleep problems are temporary, usually caused by a particular event or poor sleep environment.

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: Transient insomnia is defined as something that lasts less than two or three weeks. And it's usually a problem that occurs in the context of some other stress in the person's life. Whether it's a stress in terms of their life situation, problems at work, problems in their family or perhaps a stress in terms of a medical problem, an acute medical illness.

ANNOUNCER: Chronic or more persistent insomnia can result from several factors.

DANIEL BUYSSE, MD: Virtually every chronic medical illness can cause insomnia. Things that cause pain, things that impair our ability to move at night, things that cause difficulty breathing are common examples of medical conditions that may be associated with insomnia.

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