A new article by Dr. Ken Harrison

As a counselling psychologist one of the things I often ask about is how well people sleep. It is an important question considering that sleep disturbance is estimated to affect some 13% to 24% of Canadian adults and may apply to nearly as many children. Insomnia is one type of sleep disturbance that includes variations on difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep (the most common complaint), early waking, and nonrestorative or poor quality sleep.

As a rule of thumb, if it takes more than 30 minutes to fall asleep, night-time waking occurs for more than 30 minutes, or total sleep time is less than 6.5 hours per night, and this occurs 3 or more nights per week for more than one month, chronic insomnia could be a problem. Initial onset of sleep difficulties is often triggered by the presence of emotional or physical discomfort. More chronic versions of insomnia may be preceded by significant life changes, enduring periods of stress or emotional upset, and a number of medical diagnoses. Early efforts to address those emotional, psychological, and medical factors would surely be a good preventative measure.