When stress keeps you up at night: your brain won't shut down, your body won't relax--overall, you feel wired. Sleep is the last thing you're going to accomplish in this state. If it happens once or twice, no big deal. But all the time? We're here to help.(You You You)

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It's annoying enough to be kept awake by a music-blaring neighbor, but when it's you who is sabotaging your own opportunity for rest, it really makes a girl want to scream ... and cry from exhaustion.

Stress-induced insomnia is rampant these days among 20- and 30something women. Thanks to job and money craziness, hectic social schedules, and the pressure to be totally together, the typical chick is more tense than ever, and that means she's getting less sleep than her body needs, explains Joyce Walsleben, PhD, associate professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and coauthor of A Woman's Guide to Sleep.

Here, we explain how stress messes with your nocturnal schedule. Plus, we give tips to help you quiet your reeling brain and racing heart so you can get the R & R you need.

How Chronic Stress Screws Up Your System

It should be simple: You are tired and it's bedtime, so you drift away within minutes of putting head to pillow. But when you're stressed, things go haywire, and the exact opposite happens instead. Being even a little anxious can make your muscles tense, prompt your body to release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, and elevate your heart rate.

You can feel these effects when you're worried during the day. But at night, they have a stronger impact, overriding your ability to sleep or preventing you from staying asleep so you wake in the middle of the night, says Thomas Roth, PhD, director of the sleep center at the Henry Ford Hospital, in Detroit.