The author F Scott Fitzgerald was right when he commented: €The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.€ Anyone who has tossed and turned all night and then had to face work the next day will relate to this statement. And if restless nights are a regular occurrence, the effect of this lack of sleep can quickly take its toll.

We spend around a third of our lives asleep and far from being a passive, dormant process, doctors now know that sleep is a very active phase, particularly for our brains. Experts are beginning to realise that sleep has a major impact on many aspects of our lives, from how we respond to stress to the functioning of our immune systems.

Here, we take a closer look at sleep and what happens when our sleep patterns become disrupted; the common causes of insomnia; self-care tips you can recommend; and the role of OTC medication in relieving temporary sleep disturbances.