During a particularly bad depressive episode, I went sleepless for 52 days. As sleepless as is humanly possible. Every 2.5 to 3 days of being awake, I would experience 2-3 hours of unconsciousness that couldn't be called sleep.
I tried everything but could not fall asleep. The sleep window no longer existed for me. I was hospitalized and left AMA after 4 days. Some lady in a business suit approached me on the psych ward floor and got in my face to say "you have choices, you know?" Then she walked away. I gave her prophetic statement some thought, and immediately signed out. I went to the library and read a book on insomnia, since my psychiatrist seemed helpless to alleviate it. The book recommended a small dose of amitriptyline (elavil). I called my psych and asked if he would prescribe it and he did. I slept uninterrupted for 8 hours. Viola! I was going to survive. Later I asked him why he didn't think to prescribe it to me earlier, and he said "Oh, you were sleeping", And I said "how can you say that?" And he said when the nurses did their bed checks I was asleep. If I had known we were playing a game, I could have taken down the times the nurses poked their heads in the door to count bed lumps. Lying motionless in bed is not the same as sleeping. I could have murdered him. Insomnia increases the odds of suicide by 5x. I now know of two meds, elavil and seroquel that can facilitate sleep over insomnia. It is important not to be burning the candle at both ends.