Have you ever counted imaginary sheep to help your mind relax and fall asleep at night? For people with insomnia, it’s not that simple. Insomnia is the most common sleep disorder in the world. Approximately 30% of adults have symptoms of insomnia and over 10% may have chronic insomnia, making it a struggle to get through their waking days. The lack of sleep is a growing public health crisis.

Insomnia is characterized by difficulty falling and staying asleep, often leading to sleep deprivation and fatigue. It occurs if you cannot produce sufficient sleep quantity and quality, even when giving yourself enough time to try to sleep. Short-term insomnia that lasts no more than a few weeks is known as acute or adjustment insomnia. Chronic insomnia is when the disorder occurs at least three nights each week for more than three months. Insomnia is further defined as primary or secondary. Primary insomnia takes place regardless of any other health condition or mental illness. Triggers include environmental, medical, physical and psychological factors. Stressful events, such as a coronavirus pandemic, often contribute. Secondary insomnia is caused by an illness that inhibits the ability to sleep.

Many of us fail to obtain the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Insomnia and sleep loss of any type are hazardous to your health, contributing to weight gain, heart attacks, cancer, diabetes, and inflicting devastating effects on the brain and the body. Thankfully, there are methods for improving sleep and insomnia need not be permanent.