Chronic insomnia is a severe disease that seriously influence the human health, and about 10%-15% of the adults suffer from it. No definite conclusion has been made about its etiology up to now, possibly associated with heredity, hormone secretion and living habits. Insomnia not only decreases the patients＇ quality of life,but also adds burden to society, families and individuals. The diagnosis of chronic insomnia should be based on the patients＇ sleep history, medication history, psychiatric history and necessary examinations. International diagnosis criteria should be combined if possible. Presently the treatments for chronic insomnia mainly include the OTC medicine, prescription drugs,self-medication with alcoholic beverage, cognitive behavior therapy, melatonin and some traditional herbal therapies. Limited information is available presently about insomnia and a large amount of laboratory and clinical research need to be done to further understand and solve this public problem