insomnia
"Insomnia is like a bandit, waiting for the perfect moment to deprive you of sleep"
"Insomnia is like an execution after which the convict has to stay alive."
"Chronic insomnia is like a toxic relationship with an emotionally unavailable man - it sucks the life out of you."
"Insomnia is like the hysteric's physical symptom insofar as our thoughts can't get us out of it; they can only make it worse"
A link to an article about the social history of insomnia. Worth a look.
METAMIA is a free database of analogy and metaphor. Anyone can contribute or search. The subject matter can be anything. Science is popular, but poetry is encouraged. The goal is to integrate our fluid muses with the stark literalism of a relational database. Metamia is like a girdle for your muses, a cognitive girdle.