Insomnia Is Common and a Significant Public- Health Issue, with Estimates of up to a Third of Adults in Western Populations

INSOMNIA IS COMMON AND A SIGNIFICANT PUBLICHEALTH ISSUE, WITH ESTIMATES OF UP TO A THIRD OF ADULTS IN WESTERN POPULATIONS REPORTING chronic sleeping difficulties requiring treatment within any 12-month period.1-4 Insomnia is associated with significant adverse health, psychological, and social consequences. The typical features of chronic insomnia include excessive daytime sleepiness, yet longer sleep-onset latencies on the Multiple Sleep Latency Test, when compared with good sleepers; increased pain, stress, depression, and anxiety; decreased vigor; subjective overestimation of poor sleep; and increased core body temperature and other indicators of metabolic rate.1,2,4,5-7 Until recently, these latter symptoms were thought to demonstrate a tendency for chronic insomniacs to display physiologic hyperarousal,8 supporting the view that the secondary symptoms of insomnia are not due to poor sleep per se but may occur due to the hyperarousal in the central nervous system.6