by Diane Quinn

Created on: July 20, 2007

You've been lying in bed, sleepless, for over an hour. You know this because every ten minutes you open your eyes and stare at your digital clock. Your body is trying to rest, but your mind continues to recycle the events of the day, anticipate the events of tomorrow, or over-worry any problem that has taken root in your brain. Your body craves sleep, this elusive and very important ingredient to good health, yet it continues to elude you night, after night, after night.

Many people continue this pattern of sleeplessness called "insomnia" for long periods of time before they even think about seeking help for their problem. Welcome to "sleep deprivation" in America.

If you think all insomnia is created equal, think again. There is list of different types of sleep disorders. They may have different names, but their end result is always the same.

INSOMNIA This is the most common of all sleep disorders with three different problems: Trouble falling asleep, trouble getting back to sleep, or waking up too early. Most people experience one or more of these occasionally throughout a lifetime. The problem becomes a disorder when it happens so often that you are abnormally sleepy during the day, have trouble paying attention, feel you have heavy eyelids or feel cranky for no reason.

There are three distinct types of insomnia:

Transient Insomnia: Lasts only a night or two and is caused by an outside influence such as sleeping in a strange bed or worry over catching that early flight the next day.

Short-Term Insomnia: Lasts from a few days to a few weeks. This can be brought on by a specific problem in your life that brings with it a well of stress. When you solve the problem, you should be back to your regular sleeping pattern once again.

Chronic Insomnia: Lasts for years and can even start as early as childhood and often results in health problems. Chronic Insomnia is a serious problem and should be dealt with through a medical professional.

There are self-help tips well publicized for insomnia and include: Go to bed and get up at the same times each day; Perform moderate exercise every day; Avoid caffeine, nicotine, beer, wine and liquor in the four to six hours before bedtime; Don't exercise within two hours of going to bed; Don't eat large meals within two hours of going to bed; Don't nap later than 3 p.m.; Sleep in a dark, quiet room that is at a comfortable temperature; If you don't fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something quiet; Wind down in the 30

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