The Rocket

Issue date: 2/17/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Copyright KRT 2002

It's 11:30 p.m., time for bed. Sleep doesn't seem like it's coming anytime soon, so you start thinking about today and the funny stories your friend shared at dinner. You try to relax and not concentrate about anything else except sleep.

You start doing breathing exercises. That doesn't work because minutes later, your mind starts wandering again. The clock reads 2 a.m. and the alarm is set for 6:30 a.m. There's so much to do tomorrow. You realize you're going to be tired before the day even begins.

Andrew Lacey, a junior communication major at Slippery Rock University, experiences sleeping problems like this on a regular basis.

"I stay up really late all the time," Lacey said. "I take stuff I buy at Giant Eagle to fall asleep. If I don't (take them), I stay up till 4 or 5:30 in the morning, even if I have to be up at 8 that day."

He's never checked into his sleep problem.

Insomnia affects more than 70 million Americans, according to the National Institute of Health. It is the most common type of sleep complaint.

According to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), insomnia "is the inability to fall asleep or remain asleep."

Carol Holland, chairperson of SRU's counseling center, said many students who utilize the center have sleep disturbance.

"I'd say most college students are sleep deprived," Holland said.

She said many have symptoms of sleeplessness due to stress, and they are not clinically diagnosed with a sleep problem.

Many people experience insomnia because of stress, worry, a disturbing occurrence such as a death, anticipation of an event or major schedule changes such as jet lag.

In 2005, NSF found that 38 percent of Americans wake up feeling un-refreshed every day, 32 percent wake up during the night and 21 percent reported waking too early in the morning.

People who drink more than four caffeinated drinks a day are more likely to experience insomnia.

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