Celebrities Were Sleepless in 2009

Michael Jackson’s struggle with insomnia made headlines in 2009. But he wasn’t the only celebrity to wrestle with sleepless nights.

Miley Cyrus told fans about her sleep problems on her Twitter page. “I have just diagnosed myself. I am an insomniac,” wrote the teen star of Hannah Montana. “I hate when I can’t sleep.”

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz battled insomnia as he struggled to find his swing in 2009. He finished the season with a disappointing .238 batting average and a career-high 134 strikeouts.

"My body is resting every night, but my mind is spinning," he said. "It's hard to sleep.”

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was another athlete looking for sleep. He’s been doing fine on the field with more than 4,000 yards and 28 touchdown passes. But it’s his newborn baby boy who’s been keeping him awake at night.

"I'm trying to get back to my normal sleep schedule, which I'm sure, for all of us parents, is a little tough early," he said.

Jessica Simpson had trouble sleeping while shooting a reality TV show in Uganda. Huge spiders and anti-malaria pills were to blame.

"There were spiders the size of, like, double my hand,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep. We’ve all been trying to get off our malaria pills and we feel crazy! They just make you have crazy dreams.”

But one celebrity who seemed to sleep well was actress Helen Mirren. The 64-year-old Academy Award winner said that she relies on sleep to keep her going.

"I sleep. When I'm working really hard, I don't party. I don't go to the bar after work. I don't go out to restaurants. I just go to bed,” she said. “If I'm on a film, I even try to catch some sleep in my trailer at lunchtime. I really try to sleep as much as possible. It's very important and, as you get older, it becomes more so."

Did you sleep like a celebrity in 2009? Maybe you need to contact an AASM-accredited sleep disorders center in the new year.

Or maybe you simply need to make it a priority to get seven to eight hours of sleep each night. The CBS Early Show reports that this is one of the most important health-related resolutions you can make for 2010.

"It is one of the most neglected aspects of our health in terms of preventative health," said CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton.

Read more about insomnia. On SleepEducation.com you can learn why you should make a resolution to “sleep for seven” in 2010. Check out the seven signs you need sleep.

Image courtesy of jessicasimpson.com