Insomnia: why can't I sleep?

Millions of people in the UK have trouble sleeping, and Guardian reporter Leah Green is one of them. Like many insomniacs, she has tried all the at-home remedies, sleep hygiene and gadgets designed to cure her sleep problems. She finds out why it is so difficult to conquer insomnia, and why good treatment is so hard to come by

For more information about treating insomnia ►

Sources:

Increased Prevalence of Insomnia and Changes in Hypnotics Use in England over 15 Years: Analysis of the 1993, 2000, and 2007 National Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys Sources ►

The natural history of insomnia: focus on prevalence and incidence of acute insomnia.

The Guardian YouTube network:

#insomnia #sleepdeprivation #nosleep #sleep #insomniac #sleepproblems

[wumingsaid]

Who else is watching this while not being able to sleep?😁

[pixie]

my eyes are closed, im relaxed, my mind is clear, my body isnt responding. ive been waiting like that for 2 hours now

[zionM]

It truly sucks when you're really really tired, but you still can't sleep.

[sofoklis]

It's basically my brain decides to overthink every thing when I'm about to sleep.

[jaelleouapou]

I didn't realize how important sleep is until my insomnia got VERY BAD. Lack of sleep got me depressed, anxious, and just frustrated. Luckly its better bc it was caused by another health problem. Sleep well! For all my insomniacs.

[moo-ejbr]

either my eyes will be rly tired but my brain doesn’t want to sleep, or my brain wants my body to sleep but my eyes aren’t tired 😓

[sleepinglucidnow]

Me: New year new me
My insomnia: That's where you're wrong, kiddo

[patrickayooladokun]

Mine is so bad it gives me headache often.

[shako]

I've closed my eyes and have tried to sleep. I've been trying to sleep for 7 hours this whole entire night, and I still can not. The worst part is, I have somewhere important to be this morning!

[eonshade]

My main problem with insomnia is that when I get comfortable with being in bed, I start thinking about how much time of sleep I'll get if I end up falling asleep soon, and as a result I start getting anxious and I count the time in my mind.

I visualise the clock in my head and am really reluctant to check the time on my phone because that would just make everything worse. Seems like the only realiable way for me to fall asleep is to get really tired by doing various things during the day and just jump in the bed without having the energy left to think about anything. Overthinking during the night is a serious curse.

The worst overall thing about this is that it doesn't matter at what time you decide to go to bed, there is no guarantee you'll fall asleep soon, after a few hours, or at all.

[IslandPunchProductions]

Probably the reason I can't sleep is caused by my anxiety and stress

[swiftielyfe]

i’ll get into bed around 9 and end up staying up thinking until over 4 am. ive also been trying to shift but i can’t force myself to fall asleep for hours and i eventually have to put my phone downstairs

[koffinkat]

I have OCD thought patterns before sleep, My brain wants to catch the moment I start drifting to sleep so I can understand what it is to fall asleep. Then I can't sleep because I am always waiting to catch myself drifting off obsessively

[rainheartz]

I’ve had chronic insomnia since I was 8, although I was diagnosed at 10. I would take melatonin constantly and I would fall asleep at 5am, no joke. Sometimes I would go without any sleep at all.
I’m currently 15 and I’ve tried everything, nothing is working. I do have anxiety and we have put into consideration that that is why I can’t sleep.
I just lay there every night. I feeling like I’m wasting time but I also feel like I’m not thinking in a way. It’s like I’m just laying there with my eyes closed for hours and when I open my eyes I feel wide awake again. It’s so confusing.

[hassanfoza]

Seriously sleep is key to life any type of sleep issues can drive u nuts

Sometimes i think if life is even worth living

[fromisnt_]

im so confused like i never had a problem with sleeping until these two past weeks i cant sleep no matter how hard i try

[nathanieljocson]

i usually read books before i sleep because it makes me tired but when i start trying to sleep my brain just has memories that keep coming back that keeps me awake

[Dynasty]

SO annoying when you get insomnia for a few days or weeks, no stress or worries, you just can't fall asleep. For months or years you just fall asleep the same way every night, in minutes, normal sleep, then one night bam, tossing and turning until 3 or 4am and you don't know why. Yet everyone says it's because you're stressed or worried or overthinking. No, no I'm not. I'm waiting to fall asleep like usual and it doesn't happen. Then bam, it goes away. But ugh, the daily dull headaches and eye strain is torture.

[noahcristian]

I’ve been able to sleep really well up until the last few weeks. It’s become finals week at college and all of a sudden I can’t sleep anymore.

[ninjapirate]

It's not that I have insomnia, it's because I keep thinking about random things when I sleep at night which prevents me from falling asleep. But when I try to stop thinking about it, the thought keeps popping in my head