You slept last night, but was it the sleep you see in bed advertisements — calm slumber with a slight smile suggesting sweet dreams — or the toss and turn, frequent-waking, what-must-I-do-tomorrow brand?

And when you woke, were you bushy-tailed or just bushed?

Rest assured (if you can) you are not alone — there are millions of semisomniacs like you out there.

And the combined effect of your drowsiness is having a huge impact, experts say, on the economy, productivity, public health and your personal wellbeing.

The term semisomnia — describing people who do not sleep well and experience low-grade exhaustion — entered the lexicon last year.
—Ruth Callaghan, "Why forty winks isn't enough," The West Australian, April 16, 2008

Like many people, Heidi is suffering from the effects of modern society's non-stop nature, and she is also struggling to separate her work and home life — what I call the "Blackberry-Bushed" cause of semisomnia.

We worry more at night because there are no distractions, and like Heidi, many of us end up lying awake, obsessing about a problem.
—Catherine Vonledebur, "Too tired to get night's sleep," Coventry Evening Telegraph, December 7, 2007

The buzz of the alarm clock forces you out of bed, blearyeyed and anything but refreshed. You snap at your partner, lose patience with the children and struggle into work with all the dynamism of a slug. About the only thing that keeps you going through the day are sugary snacks.

Back home, even when the evening's tasks have been completed, there are 101 things to do e-mails to check, a television programme you want to stay up for, preparation for the next day. You finally fling yourself exhausted into bed, mind racing, and wonder why you can't get to sleep.

Sounds familiar? You, like another 30 million Britons, could be suffering from semi-somnia, a term coined by leading sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley to describe persistent low-grade exhaustion due to poor sleep.
—Moira Petty, "Half awake? Join the club," Daily Mail, October 23, 2007