“Would you be willing to cover a morning shift tomorrow?” Without hesitation, I say yes. And despite the gnawing feeling in my gut that tells me I don’t want to do it, I can’t bring myself to say no.

As we learned in part one of this series, insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it difficult to fall asleep, stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to return to sleep. Cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is an effective treatment for chronic sleep problems and is usually recommended as the first line of treatment. Studies show that CBT-I improves sleep in 75-80% of insomnia patients and reduces or eliminates sleeping pill use in 90% of patients.

In the last few decades, scientists have begun to unravel the many mysteries surrounding sleep. While there is still so much we need to learn, and many questions regarding sleep still to be answered, there are lots of things we know for sure. It’s time we separate fact from fiction by debunking some popular myths about insomnia.