Insomnia is characteristed by an inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep long enough to feel refreshed the next day. The inability to fall asleep is known as sleep-onset insomnia and is the most common problem in young people.
Insomniacs can also experience:
Waking in the night (most common in older people)
Not feeling refreshed or able to function the next day; feeling irritable, tired and unable to concentrate.
Waking during the night due to a disturbance (pain or noise)
Waking early in the morning (least common form of insomnia).

About a third of people in the Uk will experience bouts of insomnia. These bouts can last days, months or even years. Insomnia is more common in women and occurs more often with age.

Possible causes for insomnia include; anxiety; disruptive sleeping environment or an underlying physical or mental health problem.
Hypnosis is best at helping people who suffer from stress or anxiety induced hypnosis as it uses relaxation and reframing techniques to help rid the underlying stress causing the insomnia. For the disruptive sleeping environment it is useful to look into lifestyle and habbits (such as eating a large meal before going to bed, having a tv or exercise equipment in your room etc.) to see if this is contributing to the insomnia. For the physical and mental health issues it is obviously important that help is sought from a GP.

Every individual is different in how much sleep they require. Most healthy adults require between 7 and 9 hours of sleep a night. Older people require less as they are lighter sleepers and often people aged 70 and older only require a maximum of 6 hours sleep a night. Factors that influence the amount of sleep required include; age, lifestyle, diet and environment.