“I need to make a shield to bring to school,” my 5-year-old son says in a matter-of-fact way as he drifts off to sleep at the end of a long weekend.  “Why?” his dad asks.  “The boys at school hit me, and I need to find a way to protect myself.  I keep telling them to stop, but they won’t stop, so I need to make some sort of shield.  It needs to be stronger than cardboard, but it can’t be metal because we’re not allowed to...

Sleep is one of life’s ultimate paradoxes. For those who have never had sleep problems, sleep is quite literally a dream. It arrives effortlessly, recharges the body, and replenishes the mind. After eight hours of sweet slumber, the mind can go from weary and haggard to refreshed and ready to dominate a new day. And to all you sleeping sweetly at night, we with insomnia say, “Screw you.” Because for people who have experienced sleep...