Insomnia: what to do

Insomnia can improve when you address sleep habits, daytime triggers, and any health problem keeping you awake. It may involve difficulty falling asleep, waking repeatedly, or waking earlier than planned and being unable to return to sleep. The effect can continue into the day through tiredness, irritability, or difficulty concentrating.

Short-term insomnia may follow stress, travel across time zones, a change in routine, illness, or an uncomfortable sleep environment. Ongoing insomnia can be linked with anxiety, low mood, burnout, pain, medicines, caffeine, alcohol, or another sleep problem. The sleep difficulty itself is a symptom pattern, so its cause is worth exploring rather than guessing from one bad night.

Keep a regular wake time, including after a poor night. Use the bed for sleep and leave it for a quiet activity if you remain awake for a while; return when sleepy. Give yourself a calm wind-down period, dim bright screens, and keep the bedroom cool, dark, and comfortable. Limit caffeine later in the day and avoid using alcohol as a sleep aid. Daylight and gentle activity earlier in the day can support a steadier body clock. A clinician may recommend structured cognitive behavioural treatment for persistent insomnia.

Arrange a GP consultation if sleep trouble keeps returning, affects work or driving, or leaves you exhausted during the day. Seek prompt help for severe daytime sleepiness, breathing pauses or choking during sleep, new confusion, or thoughts of self-harm. Do not drive when you feel too sleepy to react safely.

Ask whether a medicine, mood change, pain problem, or another sleep condition could be contributing. Bring a short sleep diary showing bedtimes, awakenings, naps, caffeine, alcohol, and how alert you feel during the day. Ask which treatment is suitable and whether a sleeping medicine could interact with anything you already take.