Insomnia
“Most days it feels like I just can’t drift off to sleep, I get frustrated at being awake, I toss and turn and ask myself why I can’t just fall asleep? It’s horrible and I even find myself worrying in the day, like what if I don’t get to sleep tonight” If this resonates, it doesn’t mean you’re broken or stuck like this forever. Insomnia is very treatable — especially with I-CBT, implementing gradual, supported behavioural/cognitive techniques and re-engaging your biological and neurochemical signals for rapid sleep onset, and sometimes EMDR/ACT, depending on what’s driving it.
What is Insomnia?
Insomnia isn’t just “having a bad night’s sleep.”
It’s more like:
“Sleep has become a struggle — I can’t fall asleep, stay asleep, or get restful sleep… and the knock-on effects are starting to affect my days.”
The problem is about sleep drive vs. arousal (wired-but-tired)
The sleeplessness isn’t random — it’s often tied to thoughts like:
“What if I don’t sleep and tomorrow is ruined?”
“What if I’m broken / this will never improve?”
“I need to fall asleep right now.”
“Why can’t I just switch off like everyone else?”
So the core problem is often a cycle: worry + effort + clock-watching → your body goes into alert mode → sleep becomes harder → you try even harder next night, and the cycle continues.
These situations almost always trigger the spiral
Not every single time — but typically, bedtime, night waking, naps, sleeping in, stressful periods, travel, early mornings, and big next-day plans trigger the “threat mode” response: tension, racing thoughts, restlessness, and hyper-awareness of sleep.
It’s not just one bad night
A key part of DSM-5 insomnia disorder is that this isn’t just occasional poor sleep.
The sleep difficulty happens at least 3 nights per week, and it’s there despite having enough opportunity to sleep.
So the issue isn’t simply “I went to bed too late” or “I didn’t have time for sleep” — it’s that sleep is hard even when the chance for sleep is there.
It’s been going on for a while
For DSM-5, insomnia disorder is usually present for at least 3 months.
So it’s not just a brief rough patch — it becomes a persistent pattern.
You might be dealing with insomnia if you notice a pattern like:
“Most nights I’m lying there trying to sleep, but my brain won’t switch off.”
“I’m exhausted all day, then wired at night.”
“I watch the clock and panic about how little sleep I’m getting.”
“I dread bedtime because I expect another battle.”
“I try really hard to ‘make sleep happen’ — but it backfires.”
“I cancel things or rely on caffeine/naps just to get through.”
Even if you’re not sure your symptoms hit all criteria, those patterns are still worth support.
It’s messing with your everyday life
Insomnia becomes clinically significant when it causes distress or impairment, such as:
fatigue, low energy, headaches
poor concentration, memory, slower thinking
irritability, anxiety, low mood
reduced performance at work/study
less motivation for exercise and social life
feeling dependent on naps/caffeine/alcohol or “sleep routines” to cope
Increased appetite for junk food
You start over-preparing, seeking reassurance, avoiding uncertainty, or pushing through on edge
People often cope by:
avoiding situations that trigger uncertainty (difficult conversations, emails/calls, decisions, driving/travel, health checks, money tasks)
only doing it if someone helps (someone comes with you, sits with you while you do it, reassures you, checks it for you)
doing it, but in distress (racing thoughts, tense body, nausea/heart pounding, needing constant checking, feeling “wired” the whole time)
It feels bigger than the actual situation
A key part of GAD is that the level of worry feels out of proportion to what’s realistically happening — even small, everyday things can feel loaded with risk.
It’s not “dramatic.” Your nervous system is acting like you need to prevent danger, so your brain treats uncertainty as a threat and keeps running what-if loops to try to feel safe.
It’s been going on a while (usually 6+ months)
In DSM-5 terms, GAD involves anxiety/worry occurring more days than not for at least 6 months, often across multiple areas of life.
And it tends to become a pattern: the worry shifts topics, but the underlying “on guard” feeling stays, and it starts affecting sleep, focus, energy, confidence, and daily functioning.
It’s messing with your everyday life
For a provisional diagnosis, GAD symptoms need to cause meaningful distress or impairment — meaning the worry and tension noticeably get in the way of things like:
sleep (can’t switch off, waking early, restless sleep)
concentration and decisions (overthinking, mind going blank, difficulty choosing)
work/study (perfectionism, procrastination, reassurance seeking, avoidance of tasks)
relationships (irritability, needing frequent reassurance, replaying conversations, fear of conflict)
daily life admin (emails, calls, appointments, finances—put off because it feels overwhelming)
health and body focus (excess checking, googling symptoms, repeated “just in case” behaviours)
leaving the house/planning (needing control, backup plans, avoiding uncertainty)