What Is insomnia

Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night, resulting in unrefreshing or non-restorative sleep. Because different people need different amounts of sleep it can be difficult to know what is right for you as maybe you find it impossible to get the 8 hours which we hear so much about. 

If a period of sleep loss becomes chronic and persists for a period of at least a month, then it becomes insomnia.

Insomnia is identified by four key symptoms-

Problems falling to sleep

Problems staying asleep

Waking up too early and not being able to get back to sleep

Not feeling refreshed from sleep

What causes insomnia?

Insomnia can be caused by something very obvious such a trauma, bereavement or a period of ill health. Or, you may not even know why you suddenly started sleeping poorly but the good news is, we don’t need to know what triggered the poor sleep in order to fix it. 

Stress if often a major factor in insomnia as stress can not only cause the initial sleep loss but it also becomes part of the cycle which keeps it going as the more you worry about poor sleep, the worse you sleep will become.

How can I fall asleep faster?

Don’t go to bed too early. When you are shattered from lack of sleep it is tempting to go to bed earlier but actually this makes the problem worse. You end up spending too long in bed, wide awake and creating a connection with your bed around anxiety. Instead, stay up a little later and set your alarm for the morning. The longer you are out of bed for, the stronger your drive will be to fall asleep faster when you go to bed.

Is there a treatment for insomnia?

Yes, there is a treatment which consistently helps up to 80% of people improve their sleep, often in under 4 weeks. The NHS and the American Academy of Physicians both recommend CBT for insomnia as the more effective treatment for poor sleepers.   

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, also known as CBT-I  is a structured programme that works through tried and tested steps. It helps you identify and replace thoughts and behaviours that cause and maintain sleep problems and also formulate long-term habits to promote healthy sound sleep. This course of treatment is NOT sleep hygiene, there are many more things you can do to improve your sleep and in fact, we often find that a strict schedule of ‘perfect’ sleep hygiene habits, can in fact make sleep worse. 

Why can’t I get this on the NHS?

Despite the fact insomnia is very treatable and CBT-i is recommended by the NHS, it is very difficult to access as there are so few trained specialists. That is why I started The Insomnia Clinic and have a trained network of insomnia specialists working across the UK.

 At The Insomnia Clinic we offer the CBT-i programme of treatment via face to face, skype or our online course so that everyone can access these tried and tested techniques and start improving their sleep immediately.