Sleeping in the afternoon has long been the calling card of teenagers and children, and is often avoided by adults who have busy lives. The image of a person who sleeps for a short time during the middle of the day is often associated with old-fashioned ‘layabouts,’ people without anything better to do. But science is starting to prove the sleepers right.

We all have the occasional night when we can’t seem to fall asleep. For many it lasts no longer than one or two nights, then regular sleep habits return, but for some the challenge to getting proper rest develops into something more. Insomnia is the inability to fall and/or to remain asleep for reasonable periods of time, and many people suffer from it one way or another.