As the saying goes, you couldn’t get enough sleep thirty years ago, but you won’t be able to sleep thirty years from now. One might ask, “Do children also suffer from insomnia?” The answer is yes. As a psychiatrist, I have to face almost every day to seek psychological counseling children, adolescents or their parents, to the eve of the various exams, there are still some old classmates, friends call me for help: “About to take the exam, my child can not sleep well at night, how to do ah?” First of all, let’s understand the common causes of insomnia in children: 1, learning tension, excessive pressure The pressure of learning leads to insomnia in children generally speaking, there are internal and external reasons. External factors: today’s society is increasingly competitive, the hardships of life, the pressure of employment, through the words and teachings of parents, pressed on the child’s immature heart. Nowadays, children not only carry heavy schoolbags, but also carry parents’ earnest expectations. Internal factors: children with anxiety qualities are more prone to insomnia, that is to say, those who usually study more seriously, more strong, easy to tension, more sensitive children are prone to insomnia. 2, early love, sexual repression and growing up troubles Teenage is the period of physiological and psychological changes in the largest period, some parents told me in horror: “my son caught the masturbation problem, I let him overcome, he can not sleep”, there are also girls shyly cried and said: “I am a bad girl, I have had masturbation and I get upset and lose sleep over it”. From these two examples, we can see that those parents can’t understand their children’s early love, physiological needs, or the children’s own misperceptions of the troubles of growing up can easily lead to children’s insomnia, or even psychological problems. 3, psychological problems, mental illness Due to both internal and external reasons, there are a few children suffering from anxiety, depression, or even schizophrenia, these psychological problems or mental illnesses have a common feature – insomnia. Children suffering from anxiety disorders are often upset, agitated, insomnia, especially those who are called “pre-test anxiety” children, once the test is insomnia; children suffering from depression tend to have low self-esteem, early waking up, and even suicidal words and deeds; children suffering from schizophrenia thinking, behavior are a little strange, or talking to themselves, or suspicious, sleep problems are more serious. The sleep problem is even more serious. Second, for the different causes of insomnia in children, we should use different countermeasures: 1, reduce pressure, enjoyable relaxation, a person’s ability to have a large and small, children are no exception. Therefore, parents’ expectations of their children should not be too high, that is to say, parents’ expectations should be in line with the child’s ability; the child’s score will not be directly proportional to the scolding, too much pressure will only cause more trouble. As long as the child learns to do their best should be encouraged, not too much emphasis on test scores and rankings, regardless of the child’s grades, we must set aside some time for the child to play games, relaxation, for those who are strong, sensitive children but also to give comfort, if the child’s insomnia is serious, you can turn to psychiatrists to give relaxation training or other treatments. 2, understanding children, correct guidance For those parents who are worried about their children’s early love, or for masturbation confused children, I will smile and say to them: “Congratulations, you (children) grow up.” From the psychologist Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs Theory” analysis, people first need to meet the physiological needs, and then the need for safety, love, respect, and finally the need for growth and self-actualization. As long as attention to hygiene, masturbation can be said to be a normal way to fulfill sexual desire, children and parents for this nervousness is completely unnecessary, for this worry is more harmful to mental health. For early love children, teachers and parents should first understand the child, sure love is human nature, is a good thing, and then guide the child in the study period good at restraining themselves, put more time and energy for learning. Seek psychological counseling and help is not a wise choice. 3, good observation, there is a disease is a doctor for those who have insomnia accompanied by things nervous, pre-test anxiety children; or poor mood, performance decline, and even speech negative, trying to commit suicide children; or repeated thoughts, withdrawn children, or doubtful, interpersonal tension, and even self-talking self-laughing, strange behavior of the child’s parents must be vigilant, may wish to bring to the experienced doctor to check, inspection, to do a psychometric examination , to troubleshoot psychological or mental problems. In fact, the prevalence of mental illness in the population is very high, in developed countries, the knowledge of mental illness is very high, according to American psychologists statistics, depression alone, its incidence in the general population between 5-25%. Early treatment of mental illness is better, on the contrary, avoiding treatment will only miss the best treatment period, ruining the child’s health and future. For children with insomnia, but also pay attention to create a quiet sleep environment, do not drink any drinks before going to bed, it is best to do homework can rest, relax for a while, with sleep before going to bed. In short, children’s insomnia should be taken seriously, analyze the cause is the key, understand the child is very important, have a disease early treatment is healthy.