As the saying goes, you couldn’t get enough sleep thirty years ago and 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, and on the eve of various exams, some old students and friends call me for help: “It’s about to be an exam, my child can’t sleep well at night, how can I do it?” First, let’s understand the common causes of insomnia in children: 1, study tension, too much pressure. The pressure of learning leads to insomnia in children generally have two aspects of internal and external reasons. The external aspect: today’s increasingly competitive society, the hardships of life, the pressure of employment, through the words and teachings of parents, pressed on the immature minds of children. Nowadays, children not only carry heavy school bags, but also carry the ardent expectations of their parents. In terms of internal factors: children with anxiety qualities are more prone to insomnia, that is, those who usually study more seriously, more aggressive, easily nervous, more sensitive children are prone to insomnia. 2, early love, sexual repression and growing pains. Adolescence is the period of greatest physical and psychological changes, some parents told me in horror: “My son has contracted the problem of masturbation, I let him overcome, he can not sleep”, and some girls shyly cried: “I am a bad girl, I have had masturbation, I am upset about it, insomnia “. From these two examples, we can see that those parents can not understand their children’s early love, physiological needs, or the child’s own misconceptions about the troubles of growing up can easily lead to insomnia, and even psychological problems. 3, psychological problems, mental illness. Due to both internal and external reasons, a few children suffer from anxiety, depression, and even schizophrenia, and these psychological problems or mental illnesses have a common feature – insomnia. Children suffering from anxiety disorders tend to be upset, agitated, insomnia, especially those called “pre-examination anxiety” children, insomnia when it comes to exams; children suffering from depression tend to have low self-esteem, early awakening, and even suicidal words and actions; children suffering from schizophrenia thinking, behavior are a bit strange, or talking to themselves, or suspicious, sleep problems more serious The sleep problems are more serious. Second, for the different reasons of insomnia in children, we should use different countermeasures: 1, reduce stress, happy relaxation. A person’s ability has size, and children are no exception. Therefore, parents’ expectations of their children should not be too high, that is, parents’ expectations should be in line with their children’s abilities; children’s scores are not directly proportional to scolding, and too much pressure will only cause more trouble. As long as the child has done his best to learn should be encouraged, not too much emphasis on test scores and rankings, regardless of the child’s performance, we should set aside some time for the child to play, relax, for those strong, sensitive children also give comfort, if the child insomnia is serious, you can turn to a psychiatrist to give relaxation training or other treatment. 2, understand the child, correct guidance. For those parents who are worried about their children’s early love, or confused about masturbation, I will smile and say to them, “Congratulations, you (the child) grow up.” The psychologist Masnor’s “Hierarchy of Needs” analysis, people first to meet the physiological needs, then the need to be safe, loved, respected, and finally the need for growth, self-actualization. As long as you pay attention to hygiene, masturbation can be said to be a normal way of satisfying sexual desire, children and parents are nervous about this is completely unnecessary, this worry is more harmful to mental health. For children in early love, teachers and parents should first understand children, affirming that love is a human condition, is a beautiful thing, and then guide the child during the study of good restraint themselves, to spend more time and energy on learning. Seeking psychological counseling and help is not a wise choice. 3, good observation, if there is a disease, then the doctor. For those who have insomnia accompanied by tension when things get tough, pre-test anxiety children; or poor mood, falling grades, or even negative speech, attempted suicide children; or recurring thoughts, withdrawn and few children; or suspicious of others, interpersonal tension, or even self-talk and laughing, strange behavior children parents must be vigilant, may be brought to an experienced doctor to check, check, do a psychological test, ranking psychological or mental problems. In fact, the prevalence of mental illness in the population is very high. In developed countries, the prevalence of knowledge about mental illness is very high, and according to American psychologists, the incidence of depression alone is between 5-25% in its general population. 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, also pay attention to creating a quiet sleep environment, do not drink any drinks before bedtime, it is best to do your homework to rest and relax for a while, with the intention of sleep before going to bed. In short, insomnia in children should be taken seriously, analysis of the causes is the key, understanding the child is very important, early treatment of disease is healthy.