If you've experienced sleeplessness, whether it's a result of your own choice or external circumstances, you know just how frustrating it can be. I know from experience -- my brother just reminded me the other day of a family vacation in which I had to share a room with my mother, who snores very loudly. Being perhaps the lightest sleeper in the world, I averaged about 2 hours of sleep a night , and after the better part of a week, I desperately begged him to switch rooms with me, promising that is he didn't, he was going to have to pick me up from a loony bin, where I would be recovering from a nervous breakdown. Dramatic? Yes, but I was very serious. No sleep does that to a person.

Researchers out of the UK have been studying the effect of sleep deprivation on the brain, with some interesting results. According to findings, activity in the brains of sleep deprived people show a dramatic increase when presented with upsetting or sad images. Moreover, the study links sleep deprivation and mental illness -- yikes! To read more of the findings, click here.

So remember to get your sleep however you can. For me, it means never sharing a room with my mother. Ever.