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.

Treatment of Middle-of-the-Night Insomnia

Insomnia Treatment

Insomnia Symptoms

Insomnia in Pregnancy

Insomnia Causes

Middle of the Night Insomnia and Biphasic Sleeping

Middle of the Night Insomnia

Screen Time and Insomnia

Causes of Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Sleep-Onset Insomnia

Treatment of Sleep-Onset Insomnia

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Promoting Sounder Sleep in Older Adults

Insomnia in Children

Latest Insomnia News and Research

Sleep deficiency worsens pain mechanisms in migraine sufferers

The mechanisms in the brain that should reduce pain don’t work as well in people with migraine when they haven’t gotten enough sleep.

26 Jun 2025

Sleep deprivation alters brain response to pain in migraine sufferers

For the first time, researchers have studied what happens in the brains of people who have migraines when they haven't slept enough.

19 Jun 2025

Understanding long-term challenges for older breast cancer survivors

Lead author Claire Morton, MD, and senior author Christina Ahn Minami, MD, MS, both of the Department of Surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital, published a paper in Current Breast Cancer Reports "Survivorship Issues in Older Adults with Breast Cancer.

17 Jun 2025

As cannabis users age, health risks appear to grow

Benjamin Han, a geriatrician and addiction medicine specialist at the University of California-San Diego, tells his students a cautionary tale about a 76-year-old patient who, like many older people, struggled with insomnia.

9 Jun 2025

Study reveals sleep-wake continuum in patients with insomnia disorder

Sleep is essential for healthy functioning. Insomnia disorder is prevalent, affecting around 5 to 10% of the adult population.

5 Jun 2025

Airline pilots face high rates of anxiety and alcohol misuse, study finds

The mental health of airline pilots is at risk, with alarming rates of depression and alcohol misuse, necessitating urgent action for crew and passenger safety.

2 Jun 2025

Sleep disorders predict dementia risk years before diagnosis, study shows

Researchers analyzed health records from over 1 million people in Finland, Wales, and the UK to assess the long-term impact of sleep disorders on neurodegenerative diseases. They found that diagnosed sleep disorders can predict Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia risk up to 15 years before symptoms, regardless of genetic predisposition.

28 May 2025

Stress-induced sleep may hold the key to faster recovery

A new Neuron perspective reveals that stress can both disrupt and promote sleep, with specific brain circuits making stress-induced sleep a potential tool for recovery. This insight may lead to innovative approaches for building resilience and treating stress-related disorders.

25 May 2025

Snooze alarms steal hours of sleep each month, new research shows

Researchers analyzed over 3 million sleep sessions from a global cohort of smartphone users and found that more than half used snooze alarms, with frequent snoozing linked to irregular sleep patterns. The study highlights potential health implications and the need for further research into the effects of repeated snooze use.

20 May 2025

Personality traits influence risk and persistence of insomnia

A study conducted at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil examined the influence of personality traits on the development and perpetuation of insomnia and found that there is a direct relationship between the two.

19 May 2025

Methotrexate found to be effective alternative to prednisone for pulmonary sarcoidosis

Prednisone is recommended as the first-line treatment for pulmonary sarcoidosis, but this steroid causes a number of unwanted side effects.

18 May 2025

Ten-year data confirm exercise is a powerful tool against depression

Researchers review how exercise influences depression in otherwise healthy adults.

7 May 2025

Cannabis use during pregnancy linked to higher risk of infant complications

An updated systematic review finds that consuming cannabis while pregnant appears to increase the odds of preterm birth, low birth weight and infant death.

5 May 2025

New research maps neural overlap in insomnia, depression, and anxiety

New research from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience maps the similarities and differences between the three most common brain disorders.

3 May 2025

COVID-19 leaves longer-lasting symptoms than flu or pneumonia, study finds

A large U.S. cohort study found that post-acute symptoms after COVID-19 vary by initial disease severity, age, sex, and comorbidities. Compared to influenza and pneumonia, long COVID presented with distinct symptom patterns and longer-lasting effects.

1 May 2025

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