Treatment improving but more needed

People with sleep problems usually think they can adjust by themselves at first and then resort to medication when they fail, according to Guo Xiheng, director of the sleep and respiratory center at Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University.

Some people use healthcare products, a common one being melatonin. "Unlike drugs, healthcare products can only increase people's confidence in believing they can have a good sleep ... but they have almost no real effects in lessening their problems," Guo said. "People's inability to fall asleep is closely linked to psychological factors."

He also warned that abusing healthcare products may interrupt people's normal hormone secretion, and that abusing drugs used to treat insomnia can even be fatal.