The simplest way to think about the problem is you either find it difficult to fall asleep, or fail to sleep through the night. Looking around the US, it's one of the most common problems reported to primary care doctors with sleeping pills being one of the most often prescribed drugs. It's estimated about one-third of adults have periods of poor sleep at some point during their lives. An average of 12.5% complain of long-term difficulty. In this, the real problem is not so much the boredom of lying in bed with nothing to do, but the feeling in the morning. You feel unrested, your mood is poor, work performance suffers and, over time, your quality of life slowly drains away. Put the other way round, everyone needs a minimum amount of sleep to ensure you say healthy. It's a myth you need to sleep at least eight hours. People are different and many cope well on only six hours per night. You should listen to your own body. If you feel fit and healthy on little sleep, do not use drugs to force longer periods of unconsciousness. Accept yourself and adjust your lifestyle to match. But, if you feel your energy levels falling, think about making the following changes in your lifestyle to help solve the problem.

The essence of the strategy is to establish a new routine for your day. This depends on fixed times for going to bed and getting up. Even at weekends, you should aim to keep to the pattern. Bed should be for sleeping (and sex). So no TV or PC in the bedroom. Get ready for bed by relaxing. Read a book or play gentle music. Perhaps ask your partner to give you a massage or lie in a warm bath. You should produce a ritual building up to the due time for bed. If you can't sleep, don't just lie there. Get out of bed, go somewhere else and work through relaxation exercises. When you are tired, go back to bed.

Look carefully at the bedroom itself. It should be dark and as quiet as possible. If there's noise from the street or from others in the same building, run a fan or buy a white noise generator to drown out distractions. The mattress should be comfortable and, during the summer, keep the temperature cooler than the rest of the house. Then it's down to obvious steps: no big meal, caffeine, alcohol or nicotine to wake you up just before lying down. Exercise during the day to tire yourself. Avoid daytime napping. And. . .check any medications. Some cause insomnia as a side effect. If none of these self-help steps work, then move on to Ambien to give yourself a few catch-up nights. But, even though it's an excellent remedy, don't come to rely on it. Ambien should only be for short-term relief. During this time, you should be keeping to your routine. When you are rested, stop taking the drug and maintain the routine. The aim must be to relearn the habit of sleep without being dependent on a drug.