Insomnia among teenagers is quite common. It is often caused by emotional problems stemming anger, embarrassment, exam stress, relationship and adjustment difficulties and other problems at school. The pattern of sleep changes during adolescence in that the time that we fall asleep becomes later. For some teens their internal rhythm sets them to a fall asleep time as late as 11:30 or 12 o’clock. This can combine with the contributing factors mentioned above to make insomnia a common feature of teen life.

Insomnia in teenagers is often the related to a condition known as delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS). DSPS sufferers take hours to get to sleep, which usually occurs in the early morning. However, they do tend to fall asleep at the same time each night, regardless of when they go to bed. As a result of the late hour of actually getting to sleep, sufferers find it very hard to wake and rise in the morning. Many teenage sufferers are viewed simply as being lazy by their parents. If the teenager is allowed to get 6-8 hours of sleep, she will not feel tired throughout the remainder of the day.

DSPS differs from insomnia in that sufferers of DSPS have a far greater ability to sleep in the late morning than do insomniacs. Also if a DSPS sufferer were to stay up until the time they normally fall asleep (which may be between 1-2 am, they will tend to fall asleep quite quickly).

Teens who are suffering from insomnia should ensure that they get regular exercise during the day. They should establish a relaxing pattern prior to going to bed. Taking a warm bath, listening to soothing music, or just enjoying a nice, warm glass of milk (not coffee) are ideal. If you still can’t get to sleep, rather than tossing and turning, flick the light on and start reading. That may be all that it takes to get you drifting off (especially if it’s a math text book!).