Insomnia

Sleepwell / Insomnia

Do you have insomnia?

There is a good chance that you have insomnia if you check each of these boxes:

You have been experiencing one or more of the following
sleep difficulties:0

It takes you a long time to fall asleep
You wake up and have difficulty getting back to sleep
You wake up too early and can’t get back to sleep

You experience difficulties the day after not sleeping well. These include one or more of the following:0

Difficulty staying awake
Needing to nap
Not being able to function well socially, at work, at school, or in other situations because of feeling tired

You are experiencing these difficulties despite having the opportunity to get a good night’s sleep0

You don’t have another sleep problem, like restless legs syndrome, sleep apnea, a circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorder such as shift-work sleep-wake disorder, or narcolepsy.0

To be diagnosed as having Insomnia Disorder (the term used by the American Psychiatric Association) or Chronic Insomnia (the term used by the International Classification of Sleep Disorders), you must experience the above difficulties on 3 or more nights per week for 3 months or longer. If your problem with insomnia has been less than 3 months the condition is called brief insomnia disorder or short-term insomnia.

When do you need to treat insomnia?

A few nights of not being able to sleep well is a very common reason for visiting the pharmacy or going to see your doctor with the hope of getting something to fix your sleep problem fast. Most people who start taking sleeping pills don’t meet the diagnostic criteria for Insomnia Disorder when they start taking pills. But taking pills to help you sleep may be the exact wrong thing to do for short-term insomnia. They often lead to more sleep problems when you stop taking them and there are important dangers associated with their use.

You should treat insomnia as quickly as you can, but without sleeping pills. Whether you have experienced insomnia for many years of your life or you have recurrences every now and again of insomnia that last only a few nights, you can do something about it without medications.

Sleepwell recommends cognitive-behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi) for treating insomnia because it is more effective, safer, and less costly than weeks, months, or years of taking sleeping pills. Learn about CBTi now.

4 Myths about insomnia

Myth #1: I am supposed to get 8 hours of sleep per night

Truth: The right amount of sleep is the amount that lets you function the next day. Many people do just fine with 6 ½ or 7 hours of sleep a night. Others need a little more than 8 hours per night.

Myth #2: I shouldn’t be waking up in the middle of the night.

Truth: It is normal (though not welcomed) to wake up once or more in the night. These awakenings occur more often and for longer as we get older. They are part of our biological evolution, and they don’t mean you have a sleep health problem.

Myth #3: I know I have chronic insomnia because I can’t sleep without my sleeping pill.

Truth: The leading cause of insomnia in someone using sleeping pills long-term is the withdrawal symptoms associated with stopping the sleeping pill. It is not a return of insomnia. It is the sleeping pill withdrawal syndrome.

Myth #4: Once an insomniac, always an insomniac.

Truth: CBTi is not only for treating insomnia but it is also for keeping insomnia from coming back. Learn how to use the 5 components of CBTi to keep your insomnia from returning.

Insomnia by the numbers

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Adults experiencing insomnia 33%

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Adults with daytime impairment due to insomnia 10-15%

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Adults with insomnia disorder 6-10%