pardon my rant

I have gone through sleep disorder evaluation, chronic insomnia.  Threr are many causes and it's extremely frustrating to bi in the process.  Problems falling asleep stem from a different set of issues than those that cause you to awaken often or early.  Both require thorough evaluation by your PCP or possibly sleep studies. 

Quick and dirty causes can be:depression, hormonal (thyroid,  pregnancy...), drug/alcohol use, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome...probably many more I don't recall. 

Treatment options vary.  Sleep apnea is readily treated with use of a CPAP machine to keep airway pressure open while you sleep (that sucker is a noisy thing and can be hard to get used to).  Thyroid conditions can be treated with appropriate medication depending on whether it's over or underactive.  My problem started during pregnancy but didn't resolve afer child #2 the way it did after child #1.  Many docs prescribe antidepressants in place of sleeping pills because a side effect of most antidepressants is drowsiness and depending on the cause (even unspecified sleep disorder) the neuro-hormonal  feedback is improved with the use of these medications (and thus the sleep improves)