Got sleep? So many people don't, even without factoring in the switch to daylight saving time.
In one recent ten year period, researchers found a 50 percent increase in prescriptions for sleep aids, but you don't have to resort to drugs.
Tossing and turning, you can't stop pacing, minutes and hours go by -- and still no sleep. Steve Littenman had insomnia for more than 20 years.
"I would just kind of dread getting into bed and trying to get to sleep," said Steve Lyntinen, insomnia patient.
More than one in three Americans say they've struggled with sleeplessness from time to time. For one in 10, it lasts months to years.
Steve went to a sleep disorders program, where Dr. Jason Ong's first step is to help patients stop thinking sleep is hard, even impossible.
"They have lost confidence in being able to sleep," said Dr. Jason Ong, sleep specialist.
Ong says that when you're worried about sleep before bedtime, it worsens the insomnia, making the next day worse, leading to a vicious cycle.
"I think I started to let my life revolve around sleeping," said Steve Lyntinen, insomnia patient.
So patients ask, what triggered the insomnia? It's often linked to past traumatic events, so now patients have to reprogram themselves.
Steve learned not to go to bed until he was truly sleepy, not just fatigued.
"Fatigued is usually when people are feeling tired, run down, maybe not having any energy, versus sleepiness, which is more like drowsiness, like they have to struggle to stay awake," said Dr. Ong.
And no matter when those sleepy moments hit, psychologists say stick with the same wake up time. Through it all, log what you're doing and how you're feeling. The things you did on bad nights, you change. The things you did on good nights, keep doing. And if you start having a few good nights, you may have found your body's natural sleep rhythm.
Many components of the therapy have been around for a while. It's how sleep researchers are putting them together that's offering the best chance for weary patients to wean themselves off medication.
Here's another motivation for you: Lack of sleep can lead to weight gain.
