Sleep disorders are a very heterogeneous group. General practitioners are first in line to encounter patients with acute and chronic insomnia. In differential diagnosis we háve to consider narcolepsy and idiopathic hyper-somnia, REM and non-REM parasomnias (somnambulism, pavor nocturnus, restless leg syndrome) and apnoeic sleep disorder. The pharmacological and cognitive behavioral therapy of sleep disorders is discussed.

        Key words: sleep, hypnotics, antidepressants, cognitive behavioral therapy.