"Is My Girlfriend's Insomnia a Deal Breaker?"

Nick, a 25-year-old in Minneapolis, calls in with a question that sounds logistical but turns out to be about something deeper. His girlfriend has struggled with chronic insomnia since her late teens and has been on Trazodone for six years. She recently tapered down to 25 milligrams and was doing well — until she hit one of those nights where she felt like she got zero sleep. Since then, she's been to the ER multiple times, tried seven different medications that haven't worked, and is starting to lose hope that she'll ever get better.

Nick's dilemma: he works a fully commission-based sales job. If he doesn't sleep, he makes mistakes, and if he makes mistakes, he doesn't get paid. On nights when his girlfriend wakes up hysterically crying, he can't sleep either. His proposed solution — going to sleep at his parents' guest room so he can at least show up rested for work — didn't go over well. Her response: "I don't want you to run off to your mom and dad's place whenever we have these types of problems."