The DePaulia

Issue date: 2/1/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Brendan Leahy Drugstores like Walgreens carry many different sleeping aids. However, for many people who suffer from insomnia, these aids are not effective.

"I need to sleep," said Erica Burgett. "It's not a question anymore. It's getting to the point where I can't do anything because I'm just constantly exhausted."

A junior music major at Columbia College Chicago, Burgett has spent the last year battling with sleep issues.

"It started when I started rehearsing more. I was stressed," she said. "To compensate I would just stay awake."

Involved in three or more musical acts at a time, Burgett is often left with less than six hours of sleep a night. The recommended amount for adolescents is 8-10 hours.

For more than 70 million Americans, chronic sleep issues plague their nights, resulting in next day fatigue and impairment of daytime functioning. For college students like 19-year-old Burgett, insomnia is especially straining. A mix of classes, tests, jobs, extracurricular activities and lack of sleep has pushed Burgett to sheer exhaustion.

Insomnia manifests in many different forms, with numerous symptoms and repercussions. According to Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, insomnia is divided into various subcategories. Sleep onset insomnia "difficulty falling asleep" and sleep off set insomnia "early morning awakenings" are the most common types of the sleep disorder. In addition, there is also sleep maintenance insomnia "frequent or sustained awakenings" and non-restorative sleep "persistent sleepiness or fatigue despite sleep of adequate duration."

Diagnosed with both sleep onset insomnia and sleep maintenance insomnia, Burgett has seen three different sleep specialists to attempt to get some rest.

"Nothing has worked," Burgett said whose medicine cabinet is stocked with Nyquil, melatonin and prescription sleep aids. "I've tried everything I can think of. The doctors don't seem to help anymore."

Burgett's schooling is suffering as a result of her sleep deprivation to the point where she even considered dropping out.

"I just couldn't take it and I thought maybe it would be better if I didn't have to concentrate on school for awhile. My mother did not agree with that idea," she said.

Continued...

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