Was Heath Ledger Seeking A Cure For Insomnia?

More details have emerged about the life and sudden death of Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger, including his battle with insomnia.

The 28-year-old Ledger was taking sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs in the weeks leading up to his death in New York last month. New York's medical examiner ruled Feb. 6 Ledger died from an accidental overdose of six different prescription drugs, including pills to help him sleep.

It's clear the Oscar-nominated star was under huge personal and career stress, was having trouble sleeping and and needed help with his sleeplessness.

Last fall, Ledger parted company with his Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle Williams, the mother of his two-year-old daughter Matilda, and said his roles as the Joker in The Dark Knight and as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There had left him "stressed out a little too much".

In an interview in November with The New York Times, Ledger admitted: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night.

"I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."

Just before his death, Ledger had flown back to New York from London, where he'd been filming yet another movie, Terry Gilliam's fantasy The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Police have said there were no illegal drugs in Ledger's apartment and they suspected from the start he was the victim of an accidental overdose of the prescription drugs he was taking to calm his anxiety and help him sleep.

Insomnia has long been a problem in the entertainment industry and on Feb, 4, the Los Angeles Times reported that another well known actor, Justin Chambers, (who plays Dr. Alex Karev on the TV show Grey's Anatomy) had voluntarily checked himself into UCLA Medical Center recently "to get help with a pre-existing sleeping disorder," according to his publicist, Danica Smith.

Showbiz people are no different to the rest of us - they want an easy cure for insomnia. However, popping sleeping pills is not a long-term solution.

Read more about my e-book Banish Insomnia, which offers a cure for insomnia without drugs.