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Sure, everyone has had a sleepless night. Whether it’s due to an overload of work, stress, or staying up all night to talk to friends, everyone has been there and it’s normal. However, when does a lack of sleep become abnormal?

Most people need at least eight hours of sleep to be fully rested. Sleeping revives the body and aids in the immune system’s resistance to infection. Sleep can also be affected by emotions. For example, if a person is stressed or upset, they may sleep more than they would if they were happy.

In 1964, a seventeen-year-old named Randy Gardner stayed awake for almost eleven days as part of a science project. He became irritable, had difficulties speaking, couldn’t focus his eyes properly, had memory lapses, and minor hallucinations. When he finally did sleep, he slept an extra six and a half hours on the first three nights following his experiment. The conclusion was that the body needs a certain amount of sleep to function adequately.

If a person has continuous issues revolving around sleeping, they might have a sleep disorder. The most common sleep disorder is insomnia, which is the inability to sleep. Most people have experienced insomnia at least once or twice in their lives, but it becomes a problem if it continues for long periods of time.

I, personally, suffer from insomnia. The first time I experienced it was in fifth grade. Back then, I was able to just drink a glass of warm milk and fall asleep after about an hour. In the six years since then, my insomnia has developed into such a severe case that it has interfered with my life. Two years ago, I was prescribed sleeping pills. Indeed, they helped me fall asleep, but they left me feeling groggy during the day. After six months with the sleeping pills, I decided to stop taking them. They made me too dazed to concentrate on anything. I discontinued the use of the sleeping pills during the beginning of my freshman year. At that point, I was still in public school. It was nearly impossible for me to wake up at 7:30am to go to school for six hours after going to sleep at 4am or 5am. If I did manage to wake up on time, I would be completely exhausted all day and have extreme difficulties paying attention and retaining information that I had learned. While my insomnia was not the only reason I began home schooling, it played a great part in the decision to stop attending public school.

A lot of people automatically think that when a person, especially a teenager, does not go to sleep until very late, it means that they just don’t feel like sleeping. That may be the case in a large amount of situations, but, in some circumstances, the person can be an insomniac and be battling with a serious problem.

Some tips and tricks that I have learned that might be helpful to fellow insomniacs include:

-Don’t force yourself to sleep. You’ll just end up getting yourself worked up. Go to bed when you’re ready.

-Psychologists recommend to only use your bed for sleeping. That way, when you crawl into bed, you unconsciously acknowledge that it’s time for sleep.

-Listen to calm music either before you get into bed or when you’re in bed. (My preferred artist is The Smiths, specifically their song “Asleep,” which is fairly ironic. Death Cab for Cutie also seems to lull me to sleep.)

-Drink a hot, non-caffeine beverage before bed, such as tea or warm milk.

-Try not to watch television when you’re attempting to fall asleep. It stimulates your senses.

Though these are only a few tips, I hope they are helpful. Good luck and sweet dreams!