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we try to get more sleep'.

In my discussions with others, it seems that the more busy and the more intelligent one is, the harder it is to have a Zen experience like this (i.e. an experience without any sort of ideas or thoughts interfering with the experience itself). It is my belief that sleep may find you more easily if you are in a more thoughtless state of mind. Thoughtless states of mind can obviously be achieved quite easily with modern day medicine (and recreational drugs), however I do encourage the reader to consider meditation as an alternative to such potentially harmful chemicals. You could also try striking matches. :) Seriously though if you know of an activity that you can do in which you don't have to excessively interpret your actions then I highly recommend doing it before bed. In my opinion the activity should be repetitive and not strenuous, however, everyone is different.

Most psychiatrists with whom I've spoken regarding insomnia agree that most psychological problems can cause sleep problems. Anything from anxiety, depression, OCD, bipolar, ADHD, to schizophrenia has been observed to have a clinically significant impact on sleep quality (you will often hear sleep researchers refer to sleep architecture which refers to the graphs obtained from EEG machines during sleep studies). For example ADHD can cause restlessness and excessive mental chatter' during the night which can obviously effect sleep. Anxiety is by definition fear of the future'. This fear of the future can no doubt cause one to stay awake. Depressed persons often fall asleep ok but wake up in the early morning and are unable to return to sleep. OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) persons often have problems waking up in the middle of the night to be troubled by particular thoughts. Bipolar persons, especially in the manic/hypomanic phase, can have issues falling asleep as grandiose thinking can be quite stimulating. Please do not use any information in this paragraph to make a diagnosis on your own. If you suspect that you or someone you know may be suffering from any of the aforementioned disorders, please discuss it with your doctor or psychotherapist. If you think you are suffering from any sort of mental illness I would encourage you to seek help as soon as you can. Early detection is often the key to successful treatment.

There are also a number of physical disorders that can cause insomnia. Any disorder that can cause pain is likely to cause some sort of sleep disturbance.

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