What is the first treatment tried for insomnia?

Insomnia can involve difficulty falling asleep, repeated waking or waking too early, followed by poor daytime energy or concentration. First treatment focuses on a consistent wake time, a calming wind-down period, a comfortable dark room, and reducing stimulation near bedtime. A clinician considers pain, medicines, alcohol, caffeine, anxiety, low mood, breathing problems and movements during sleep. Sleeping tablets are not automatically the first choice because benefits and unwanted effects need individual review.

Keep a simple sleep diary, get up at a regular time, and go to bed when sleepy rather than spending long periods awake in bed. Keep naps short or avoid them if they disrupt night sleep. Insomnia Management can support practical behaviour change. Mental Health Assessment may help when worry or low mood is involved; a Sleep Study may be considered when snoring or pauses in breathing suggest another sleep disorder.

Arrange medical review when sleep problems impair driving or work, or occur alongside anxiety, low mood, pain or medicine changes. Seek urgent help for thoughts of self-harm, severe confusion, or several nights of almost no sleep with unusually high energy, risky behaviour or loss of contact with reality.

Ask what may be disrupting sleep, which routine changes fit your circumstances, whether a medicine contributes, and whether mental health assessment or a sleep study is appropriate.