Sleep is an important part of life; you cannot live or function properly without it. The healthy amount of sleep for an adult is between 7 and 9 hours per night. Sleeping less than 7 hours can make you wake up tired and irritated, making it difficult to carry out daily activities. The main reason for a sleepless night is sleep disorders. They affect at least 40 million Americans each year and are becoming an epidemic. There are many disorders that can cause disturbed sleep; but nightmares, night terrors, insomnia, and hypersomnia are three of the most common. A third of life is spent sleeping. In the average life you would spend about 6 years dreaming! Everyone dreams even if they perhaps don't remember it. Although more common in children; Nightmares affect adults too. Probably the most common of sleep disorders, nightmares are something that almost everyone has experienced. Nightmares are vivid dreams that cause terror, anxiety, and fear. Nightmares occur in the fourth stage of sleep, which is deep sleep. Nightmares are caused by rapid eye movement (REM). REM sleep causes irregular EEG patterns that are similar to the patterns in the first stage, which is light sleep. Most people experience REM sleep three to five times a night. Nightmares can also be caused by stress, illness, the loss of a family member, or a scary movie. After having a nightmare, it can be extremely difficult to get back to sleep. There are other feelings associated with dreams besides fear, feelings such as guilt, sadness and confusion also occur in nightmares. Most people who have nightmares don't remember what they dreamed about. There is no precise cure for nightmares, but before going to sleep you should try to avoid nighttime snacks... middle of paper... put on relaxing music and count sheep; 10...9...8...7...6... After all, who doesn't love a good night's sleep? Works Cited http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/parasomnias http://www.nightmaresanddreams.com/facts.html http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/parasomnias http ://www.healthcentral.com/sleep-disorders/cf/slideshows/6-fact-about-nightmares?ic=8833#slide=2 http://www.livescience.com/36454-strange-insomnia-facts- treatments.html http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/ fact-sheet/insomnia.html http://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-disorders/diseases-a-to-z-from- ninds/hypersomnia/ http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200311/how -cure-nightmares http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/night-terror/overview.html https:// www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/inso/treatment .html Psychology a Journey 5th Edition