If you’re struggling with your sleep, you’ve probably come across something called ‘sleep hygiene’. A doctor may have told you about it, or you may have Googled your sleep problem and found the term ‘sleep hygiene’ here.

In short, sleep hygiene is advice like giving up caffeine or alcohol, making sure your bedroom environment is comfortable, or relaxing before bed.

None of this is bad advice, however the problem is that it is not a cure for insomnia. So, if you’re already sleeping poorly, these things will actually serve to add a lot more pressure to your falling asleep, giving you a long list of things to do. You will also likely find your sleep doesn’t improve much after ticking all these boxes.

This can be really anxiety-provoking for people with insomnia. So please be reassured, if your sleep hygiene is perfect but you still find you’re struggling with insomnia, this is totally normal, because these steps won’t fix a real sleep problem. That is where CBT for insomnia (CBT-i) comes in.