Thirty-five percent said that, every night or almost every night of the previous year, they had at least one out of these four symptoms: difficulty falling asleep, waking a lot during the night, waking up too early and not being able to get back to sleep, or waking up feeling unrefreshed. Just how big a problem is insomnia? The National Sleep Foundation surveyed more than a thousand adults in 2002. The good news is that behavioral treatments are highly effective. Some research suggests that attitudes about sleep, and the sleep patterns and behaviors prompted by these attitudes, make certain individuals vulnerable to chronic insomnia. Unfortunately, in a significant proportion of the population, sleep problems turn into insomnia, which is defined as the chronic inability to fall asleep or to enjoy uninterrupted sleep.
Many of these bouts get better without treatment. Most people encounter sleep difficulties from time to time, often related to stress or pain. Henry Olders, an assistant professor of psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal who conducts sleep research, explains.