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“Ledger’s Toxicology Results: Died from acute intoxication, abuse of prescription drugs, death accidental,” Huffington Post, Feb. 6, 2008

Julie Deardorf, “Did insomnia kill Heath Ledger?” Chicago Tribune, Feb. 6, 2008
Insomnia medications were reportedly part of the prescription drug cocktail that killed Health Ledger, yet for some reason we still don’t take these drugs seriously.
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What outcome can we hope for, from his tragic death? Tighter FDA restrictions? More education and caution on the part of people who take sleeping pills? Better kinds of sleeping pills?

Mark Loftin, “Heath Ledger and Personal Responsibility,” American Thinker, Feb. 9, 2008
“The idea that Ledger himself may be culpable for his death eludes the left. It’s easier to blame the US healthcare system….”
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“For others who are unwittingly using dangerous combinations of sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs that were never intended to be taken together, perhaps Ledger’s death will prompt them to wake up - so to speak.”
Sarah Britten, “Heath Ledger played Russian Roulette with prescription drugs,” The Times, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
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I want to know what you know about insomnia, where you think it came from, the impact it’s had on your life, your experiences with drugs, sleep clinics, cognitive behavioral therapy, alternative therapies, the ways you’ve found of coping, and any other insights you have that might shed insight on this complex condition.

Insomniacs are said to be “emotionally seclusive and socially withdrawn,” “mentally and physically inactive, uncomfortable, sleepy, indifferent, not enjoying themselves, and depressed.” They appear to be a “distressed, pessimistic, worried group who face the world with apprehension, anxiety, and self-deprecation.” They have “greater difficulty in interpersonal relationships,” “impaired social skills or negative social attitudes.” Since they have a tendency to deny psychological problems, “essentially considering sleeplessness to be the entire problem,” they have a “strong resistance to the physician’s exploration of problem areas; a need for control, as expressed in manipulation of medications and lack of compliance with general measures.” Even when they deny that they’re depressed and insist that sleeplessness is “the entire problem,” they are depressed. –Insomniac

I am really very tired of being told what it’s like to live in my body by people who haven’t a clue.–Insomniac

What time of life, childhood, adolescence, motherhood, menopause?

Childhood onset insomnia is said to be rare, but a lot of people talk of their insomnia as going back forever.

Adolescent onset insomnia is also said to be “rare.” And yet many people trace their insomnia to this time.

Researchers tells us that most insomnia is brought on by a stressful event or event which then settles in and becomes conditioned. Has this been your experience?

Do you think it’s related to childhood stress or trauma?

Does it run in your family?

Is it related to your hormonal fluctuations?

Is it related to the work you do? Job and money insecurities?

Do you have other health conditions—such as autoimmune or gastric or low blood sugar –you think are related to insomnia? (other than obvious things that would keep anyone awake, like pain—I mean, subtler connections between something going on in your body and sleep disturbance)?

Head injuries?

“…if you want to know how you’re going to feel in a decade’s time, you should stay awake all night and go into work. It simulates 10 years of ageing…”
Laura Barton and Charlie Brooker, “Pillows, Pills, and Potions,” Guardian Unlimited, UK, Guardian.Co, Feb. 5, 2008

Are the people in your life, family, workplace, supportive about this problem?
Experiences in the workplace?

Do you think it’s bad thoughts that keep you awake, or biochemistry?

Dreams: good dreams, bad dreams, dreams that seem to wake you up?
Do you think you have more dreams than people you know who sleep well?

Do insomniacs have access to in-between states that good sleepers miss?

What therapies would you like to see discussed or developed?
What questions would you like to see research address?
What insights or experiences with insomnia would you like the world to know about?