Insomnia

Insomnia can cause problems during the day, such as excessive sleepiness, fatigue, trouble thinking clearly or staying focused, or feeling depressed or irritable. It is not defined by the number of hours you sleep every night. Although the amount of sleep a person needs varies, most people need between 7 and 8 hours of sleep a night.

What is Insomnia?

Insomnia is a condition in which it is difficult to get to sleep, or to remain soundly asleep, resulting in too short and too low-quality sleep which affects normal functioning. It causes fatigue and daytime sleepiness. It may be classified as acute, lasting a few days or weeks, or chronic, when it lasts longer than a month.

Insomnia Causes

Insomnia Symptoms

Insomnia Treatment

Insomnia in Pregnancy

Promoting Sounder Sleep in Older Adults

Insomnia in Children

Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Causes of Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Treatment of Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Middle of the Night Insomnia

Middle of the Night Insomnia and Biphasic Sleeping

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Treatment of Middle-of-the-Night Insomnia

Screen Time and Insomnia

Latest Insomnia News and Research

Study links insomnia and sleep medication to increased disability risk in older adults

Insomnia is a significant health and quality of life concern for older adults, with up to half of all adults over the age of 65 experiencing insomnia symptoms.

17 Apr 2025

Stress and depression help explain intertwined alcohol, sleep problems

Insomnia and hazardous drinking are so closely intertwined that estimates suggest at least one-third, and as many as 91%, of people who have a hard time with sleep also misuse alcohol.

14 Apr 2025

Multidimensional sleep health linked to better cardiometabolic outcomes

Healthy sleep includes multiple components, such as number of hours of sleep per night, how long it takes to fall asleep, daytime functioning and self-reported sleep satisfaction, and addressing these different dimensions of sleep may help to reduce cardiometabolic health and related risk factors, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

14 Apr 2025

Daytime eating could mitigate health risks of night shift work

A study led by researchers at Mass General Brigham suggests that, when it comes to cardiovascular health, food timing could be a bigger risk factor than sleep timing.

8 Apr 2025

Perimenopause can begin in the thirties yet remains widely misunderstood

Hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain and insomnia are all signs of hormonal changes and symptoms of menopause, when a woman no longer has menstrual cycles. They can also signal perimenopause, when the body is preparing for this next season of life.

8 Apr 2025

Your phone might be the reason you can’t sleep

Researchers investigate whether screen use in bed, particularly social media use, affects sleep as compared to other screen-based activities in students.

4 Apr 2025

Study shows long-term benefits of medicinal cannabis for chronic health conditions

Patients prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia maintained improvements in overall health-related quality of life (HRQL), fatigue, and sleep disturbance across a one-year period, according to a study published April 2, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS One by Margaret-Ann Tait from The University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues.

2 Apr 2025

‘They won’t help me’: Sickest patients face insurance denials despite policy fixes

Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of time on hold with her health insurance company. Sometimes, as the minutes tick by and her frustration mounts, Ekirch, 30, opens a meditation app on her phone. It was recommended by her psychologist to help with the depression associated with a stressful and painful medical disorder.

31 Mar 2025

Study: Witnessing trauma triggers unique brain changes

For years, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been studied primarily in people who experience trauma firsthand.

18 Mar 2025

Night shifts and sleep debt linked to higher infection risk in nurses

Researchers determine how sleep duration, sleep debt, and shift work impact the risk of infections among Norwegian nurses.

13 Mar 2025

Study: Poor sleep quality may increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs

A new study from the University of Nottingham has revealed that poor sleep quality may increase susceptibility to conspiracy beliefs, with depression likely playing a key role in this relationship.

12 Mar 2025

Study finds no link between Medicaid expansion and opioid misuse

A new study has found that extending state Medicaid coverage did not increase the likelihood of prescription opioid or benzodiazepine misuse among people who use drugs.

11 Mar 2025

Shift work and sleep debt increase infection risk in nurses

A new study examining the effects of sleep patterns and shift work on the immune system has found that sleep debt and night shifts increase the risk of several common infections in nurses.

10 Mar 2025

Lack of sleep and insomnia may raise teenagers’ risk for hypertension

Teenagers who do not get the recommended amount of sleep may be at an increased risk for high blood pressure, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology, Prevention, Lifestyle & Cardiometabolic Health Scientific Sessions 2025.

6 Mar 2025

Muscle strengthening exercise may help tackle insomnia in older adults

Resistance or muscle strengthening exercise, using weights or the body itself, may be the best type of exercise for tackling insomnia in older age, suggests a pooled data analysis of the available research, published in the open access journal Family Medicine and Community Health.

4 Mar 2025