The Big Sleep - Herbal Remedies for Insomnia

By: Martha Schindler
Published in Vegetarian Times
December 1998

Twelve herbs that can gently ease you into dreamland.

Insomnia is an affliction that, like motion sickness, mystifies those who've never had it. "I don't know what you're talking about," said a friend recently when I tried to explain the dark circles under my eyes with a tale of my on-again, off-again insomnia, which (sadly) was on again. "I fall asleep the minute my head touches the pillow." Lucky her. "Insomnia. Isn't that the sign of a guilty conscience?" another friend joked.

To anyone who's ever spent precious dreamtime channel surfing through late-night infomercials while dreading the next day's exhuastion, insomnia is no laughing matter. Chronic insomnia, characterized by difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking in the night, the inability to fall back asleep, or waking too early in the morning, plagues 67 percent of Americans. According to a 1998 poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation in Washington, D.C., 37 percent of those surveyed admitted that they're so sleepy during the day, they have trouble functioning.

The news gets worse: Chronic insomnia can result in mood swings, lack of coordination, frazzled nerves, impaired mental functioning and a decreased ability to fend off infections. It can even be life-threatening. According to a report published in the journal Sleep (July 1996), chronic insomniacs are 2.5 times more likely to be involved in car crashes than people who routinely get enough sleep. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that at least 100,000 auto accidents each year are caused by driver fatigue. "Sleep deprivation," says Nancy Russell, M.D., a holistic practitioner of internal medicine in Kansas City, Mo., "is one of the most critical issues facing our society."

Everyone differs in the amount of sleep they require--some folks need nine hours, others get by just fine on four--so scientists don't have any hard-and-fast criteria about what makes an insomniac. But according to Peter Hauri, Ph.D., director of the Mayo Clinic's Sleep Disorder Center in Rochester, Minn., it's not how long you sleep, but how well. If you wake up feeling refreshed after just a few hours of shut-eye and can function during the day, don't worry. If you're regularly fuzzy-headed, even after a solid eight hours, you may have insomnia.

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