ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Noise:
Passing traffic, airplanes, television and other noises can disturb your sleep even when they don't cause you to wake up.

Light:
Light comes through your eyelids even when your eyes are closed.

These factors should be considered if you find yourself feeling tired even though you thought you slept soundly all night.

PHYSICAL/PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS

Psychiatric problems:
Insomnia - especially with awakenings earlier than desired - is one of the most common symptoms of depression. If you suffer from a psychiatric disorder, you may sleep poorly. Treatment of the underlying disorder, often including both medication and psychotherapy, can help improve your sleep.

Breathing disorders:
Certain disorders can cause repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. This can wake a sleeper dozens or even hundreds of times a night. Pauses can

be as short as 10 seconds and therefore may not be remembered in the morning. The are sufficient, however, to produce restless sleep. Severely disrupted breathing during sleep (Sleep Apnea) may affect people who breathe normally while they are awake.

Periodic leg movements:
Brief muscle contractions can cause leg jerks that last a second or two and occur roughly every 30 seconds (often for an hour or longer) several times a night. These movements can cause hundreds of brief interruptions of sleep each night, resulting in restless sleep.