We spend a great deal of our lives sleeping. Infants sleep practically 24 hours a day. Small children take frequent naps. Youngsters and teenagers sleep about eight or nine hours a day while adults need seven to eight hours and sometimes even less. Many elderly people need lesser hours perhaps five to six and also tend to be lighter sleepers. Elderly may not be able to sleep as much as younger people.

This is because they lead a relatively inactive life-style, or they may also be getting more sleep during the day, which is a common complaint.

  The term Insomnia refers to an inability to fall asleep or to remain awake for a considerable length of time. This may cause chronic tiredness, which badly affects your daily life. This being the case, it is important to understand that virtually everybody has problems with sleep at sometime or the other. Stress, depression and worries are well-known causes of insomnia. Illness is another possible cause, especially if there is pain or discomfort.

How to overcome?
Exercise often helps you sleep, but avoid exercising shortly before you go to bed. Write down your worries rather than fret about them while you're trying to sleep. A warm bath before going to bed can help. Don't have a heavy dinner. Drinking alcohol may also disturb your night's sleep, though a small nightcap can help you to fall asleep in the first place.

Cut down on drinks containing caffeine (coffee, tea, cocoa, and colas), especially at late nights.
Make sure you have a comfortable bed. The bedroom itself should be well-ventilated and cool and as dark and quiet as possible.
Don't go to bed until you feel tired.
Sex just before bedtime can both promote and impede sleep. Men may sleep well after sex whereas women may liven up.
Read a book until you feel dozy. Get up again if you are not able to sleep within half-an-hour. Sit down, listen to some music and go back to sleep with in half-an-hour.
Get up at the same time every morning. Set the alarm and get out of bed quickly, even if you had a late or sleepless night. This way, at the end of the day you'll probably feel tired and sleepy at just the right time. If you do this for a sufficient number of days, you will successfully adjust your inner clock and get tired when you need to.
For long trips by bus or plane, it might be worth taking a sleeping pill if you expect to have problems with sleeping. This should be an acting-fast pill with a limited effect - about five or six hours. You need to consult your GP to get it prescribed.

Most people can overcome their insomnia by following the above given advices. If these don't work, consult the doctor.

  In modern medicine the patient becomes dependent on the medications and eventually finds it very difficult to get free from the tablets. You may also need to take more and more of it to achieve the desired effect, because your body becomes tolerant to the medicines. They may also leave you feeling drowsy and lethargic in the morning. It will be beneficial only for short-term therapy. But Homoeopathic approach is different. We cannot assure such instant sleep as the material doses could do in modern medicine. Our dynamic prescription arouses the sensorium to heal in a dynamic way. It is strange to hear such wonderful results after a week or months after treatment.

This is something peculiar in few individuals. Many have problem with sleep. Usually they ask, "Doctor, Please prescribe something for sleep!" I usually tell them "my medicine may or may not act. I cannot vouch for that! But I am quiet sure that you will be able to sleep without any type of medications after sometime." The medicinal action depends on the susceptibility of the patient. It may vary from individual to individual.