Insomnia
Insomnia is trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early and not being able to drift off again. Short bouts are common and often pass on their own. When poor sleep lasts three nights a week for three months or more, it is treated as a long-term problem worth addressing, especially when daytime focus, mood, and energy start to suffer.
Key points
- Shift work and irregular schedules can throw off the body’s internal clock, making consistent sleep harder to achieve.
- Melatonin nudges a drifted body clock back into rhythm, while short-acting aids such as zaleplon break a run of bad nights.
- Loud snoring accompanied by gasping or breathing pauses points toward a distinct sleep condition requiring its own evaluation.
What causes insomnia
Stress, irregular schedules, and screen time late at night are the usual triggers. Shift work and long-haul travel disrupt the body clock, a frequent issue for anyone who crosses time zones often. Caffeine, alcohol, and afternoon naps all make it harder to settle. Pain, anxiety, depression, and an overactive thyroid can keep sleep broken too, so persistent insomnia is sometimes a signal to look at what sits underneath it.
How insomnia is treated
Good sleep habits come first: a fixed wake time, a cool dark room, and winding down without screens. Where extra help is needed, melatonin can nudge a shifted body clock back into rhythm and is often used for jet lag and age-related sleep changes. Short-acting sleep aids such as eszopiclone and zaleplon are used for shorter stretches to break a cycle of bad nights. You can see the full range on our sleep management page. Treatment works best alongside the habit changes, not instead of them.
When to see a doctor
See a doctor if insomnia drags on for weeks, if you fall asleep uncontrollably during the day, or if low mood or anxiety is driving the sleeplessness. Loud snoring with gasping or pauses in breathing can point to sleep apnoea, which needs its own assessment.