I have insomnia. (Yes, that explains why I'm writing this at 5:30 am!) I've had it for years. It's nothing serious...just incredibly annoying. I tend to wake up every few hours and then have a tough time falling back to sleep. I rarely get a good night of sleep and, in fact, I often wake up in the morning more tired than when I went to sleep! Yes, annoying, but there certainly are more annoying things that others have to live with, so I'm not complaining.

Because my bouts with insomnia are fairly consistent, I decided to do some research on the condition. Insomnia is defined as difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep. According to Healthline), other symptoms of insomnia include excessive sleepiness during the day, falling asleep at inappropriate times, nightmares, disturbing thoughts or physical pain that keep you awake, significant trouble getting out of bed in the morning or, conversely, waking up too early in the morning, sleep that does not refresh you or waking up several times throughout the night. Typically, insomnia can be handled with some behavioral modifications or medication.

During my research, I came across several sites discussing adolescent insomnia which, apparently, is becoming a problem among kids this age. Reading these sites led me to think about video games, which then led me to the question: Do video games cause insomnia? It is thought by many sleep experts that playing video games right before bed can be one of the causes of insomnia because of the stimulation they bring. But, these sleep experts stop short of saying that video games are a definitive cause of insomnia because, in reality, there are plenty of other reasons why people can't (or don't) sleep, including stress, health issues, substance abuse, a snoring partner, a barking dog or even a room that's too hot or cold.

However, a recent study performed by the Flinders University Sleep Laboratory in Adelaide, South Australia, showed that, while playing video games at night did cause male teens to take roughly twice as long to fall asleep as the more sedentary activity of watching a DVD, again, the research wouldn't say flat-out that video games cause insomnia. Dr. Michael Gradisar, research supervisor and senior lecturer in clinical child psychology at Flinders University, said, "Initially, we were surprised that playing the violent video game did not lead to a much longer time taken to fall asleep." However, he added, "...anecdotally, a lot of people report difficulty falling asleep after playing video games at night." So, while research doesn't outrightly condemn video game playing before bedtime, it seems that the research completed so far simply can't provide the definitive link between video games and insomnia.

Dr. Peter Polos, from JFK Medical Center in New Jersey, recently released the results of his own study showing that the use of electronic media before bedtime actually is a prime cause of insomnia in teens. His study didn't limit the intrusion to video games but rather focused more on all electronic media, including texting (the main culprit in his view), telephone, Internet, email and video game use. "Using cellphones or computers...with all the graphics and rapid responses, is more addictive, seductive and interactive than passively watching television," Polos said. He admits that using electronic media before bedtime may indeed be causing insomnia, but it's also just as likely that adolescents are turning to these devices because they can't go to sleep. But, he adds, "It's safe to say that if you are an insomniac, the last thing you should be doing is texting or going on the computer to play games late at night." Another study, published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, looked further at the physical aspects of video games affecting insomnia and concluded that playing an exciting video game on a terminal with a bright display affects the "nocturnal changes in melatonin concentration and other elements of our biological clocks." What this means is that if you play a stimulating video game at night on a terminal with a bright display backlight, it could be the reason you're not getting a good night of sleep.

Ahh...but this is where casual games enter the discussion. Casual games are simple to play, easy to learn and don't require a long-term commitment, which is why more than 200 million people play them. And, according to a survey commissioned by PopCap Games, nearly one-quarter of all casual gamers (24%) play at work on a daily basis while nearly half of all casual gamers (47%) play casual games to relax. If casual gamers are playing at work to relax, chances are, they are also playing at home to relax. So, while playing RPGs and MMORPGs can cause too much stimulation and keep you up at night, casual games, like Scrabble, can actually relax you and help you fight off insomnia.

So, if you've tried all the standard tricks for getting a good night's sleep - establishing a bedtime routine, avoiding caffeinated and alcoholic beverages in the evening, staying away from strenuous activity for two hours before bedtime, having a serene sleep environment - and none of them have worked, what's the harm in trying a game of Word Up or Mahjong to help calm you down? Personally, I've grown accustomed to picking up my Palm Pilot for a game or two of Alchemy or my Google 2 phone for Solitaire or Mahjong before I go to bed because a casual game of any sort relaxes me enough to let me climb into bed and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow.

Readers, do you suffer from insomnia? What casual games do you play to relax you? And, when you play these games before bedtime, do you fall asleep more easily?