When you’re struggling with sleep, it’s easy to feel swamped by advice and conflicting information.
I’ve gathered a few resources here that are simple and designed to ease anxiety rather than add to it.
What you’ll find here:
A short quiz to help you identify if you’re experiencing insomnia
Causes of insomnia
Sleep anxiety
Different avenues of support
Trusted links and further reading
Insomnia Resources
Do I have insomnia?
Take this brief quiz to help you understand whether what you’re experiencing might be insomnia.
Read each statement and choose the option that feels closest to your experience:
0 = Not at all 1 = Sometimes 2 = Often 3 = Most nights
1. I struggle to fall asleep even when I’m tired.
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
2. I wake in the night and find it hard to settle again.
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
3. I worry about sleep or dread bedtime.
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
4. My mind feels busy or alert when I get into bed.
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
5. My sleep difficulties have been happening for at least three nights a week for three months.
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Add up your score.
0–5: Occasional sleep disruption
Very common. Stress, routine changes or a busy mind can all play a part.
6–10: Possible insomnia pattern
You may be noticing sleep difficulties on several nights a week. This is often where “sleep anxiety” begins to show up.
11–15: Likely insomnia
If your sleep has been difficult 3 or more nights a week for over 3 months, this fits the common pattern of insomnia.
This quiz isn’t a diagnosis, but it can help you understand what you’re experiencing. Insomnia is incredibly common and highly treatable. If several statements resonated, you’re not alone and there are many supportive ways to improve your sleep.
Causes of insomnia (3 Ps)
Insomnia doesn’t usually appear out of nowhere. It tends to develop through a mix of factors that sleep researchers often describe as the 3 Ps: predisposing, precipitating, and perpetuating factors.
Understanding these can be reassuring, especially when you realise that the part keeping insomnia going is also the part we can change.
Predisposing factors
These are the things that make someone more likely to develop insomnia in the first place. They’re often part of your biology, personality or health history. This includes things like being naturally sensitive to stress or having a family history of sleep difficulties.
Some medical conditions and sleep disorders can also predispose someone to insomnia. If you snore loudly, wake up gasping or feel excessively sleepy during the day, it’s important to speak to your GP to rule out conditions such as sleep apnoea.
You can’t change your predisposing factors and you don’t need to. Even if you have a sleep disorder or a long history of poor sleep, there is still a great deal that can be done to improve sleep.
Precipitating factors
These are the triggers — the things that set insomnia in motion. Common examples include:
Illness
A stressful life event
A period of disrupted sleep due to travel or socialising
Caring responsibilities
Grief or emotional strain
Again, these are things we often can’t control. They happen to all of us at different points in life.
We can’t change what triggered your insomnia, but we can change what happens next.
Perpetuating factors
This is where the real work happens.
Perpetuating factors are the habits, thoughts and reactions that unintentionally keep insomnia going long after the original trigger has passed. These might include:
Going to bed extra early
Trying to force sleep
Worrying about the impact
Avoiding bedtime
These patterns are completely understandable and are what anyone would do when sleep feels out of reach. But they also teach the brain to stay alert at night.
The good news is that perpetuating factors are the part we can change. This is where evidence‑based insomnia therapy is most effective and where we focus our work together.
Sleep anxiety
When sleep becomes difficult, it’s completely natural to start worrying about it. At first, this worry feels protective. You’re trying to make sense of what’s happening and prevent another bad night. But over time, the worry itself can become part of the problem.
This is what we call sleep anxiety, and it’s a key part of the loop that keeps insomnia going.
Sleep anxiety usually begins with a few difficult nights. You might start:
Thinking more about sleep during the day
Feeling tense as bedtime approaches
Monitoring how tired you feel
Worrying about how you’ll cope tomorrow
Your mind is trying to help, but it accidentally teaches your brain that bedtime is a threat, not a place of rest. This makes the body more alert at night, which leads to more wakefulness and more worry. It’s a very understandable cycle, and one that many people fall into without realising.
The reassuring part is that sleep anxiety can be addressed
Once we understand the patterns that keep the mind on high alert, we can begin to gently interrupt them.
This might involve:
Reducing the pressure to “perform” sleep
Helping the brain relearn that bed is a safe, restful place
Restructuring thoughts and beliefs around fatigue, sleepiness and wakefulness
We don’t need to eliminate worry altogether. Instead, we need to change our relationship with it. And that’s something we can absolutely work on together.
If you’d like to understand this loop more clearly and learn some simple ways to begin easing sleep anxiety, I’ve created a free guide that walks you through it in a calm, practical way. You can download it here:
Avenues of support
Start with your GP
If you’re struggling with sleep, a good first step is to speak to your GP. Some medical conditions, including sleep apnoea, restless leg syndrome, pain conditions and certain medications, can affect sleep without you realising. Understanding whether any of these are playing a role can be incredibly reassuring. Even simply making the connection between your health and your sleep can reduce anxiety and improve your sleeps.
Your GP can also talk you through what support is available locally. You can ask about:
Sleep clinics
Talking therapies
Medication options
Unfortunately, specialist insomnia therapy isn’t offered consistently across the NHS, but it’s still worth exploring what’s available.
And importantly: even if you do have an underlying condition, your sleep can still improve. I often work alongside people who are managing medical issues, and there is still a great deal we can do together.
Practical self‑help that isn’t overwhelming
There’s a lot of sleep advice online, and much of it can feel like pressure. But a few simple, steady habits can make a meaningful difference without adding to the mental load. Things like:
Keeping a fairly consistent wake‑up time
Getting some natural light in the morning
Reducing long daytime naps
Creating a short wind‑down routine that feels doable
Stepping out of bed if you’re awake for a long stretch
These aren’t rules, but simple ways to help your body and mind find a steadier rhythm.
Working with me
If you’d like more personalised support, this is where my work comes in. There is a cost involved, but it reflects the depth of the process: structured, evidence‑based and tailored entirely to you.
People often tell me that the biggest difference isn’t just sleeping better: it’s feeling calmer, more confident and less trapped by the cycle of worry and wakefulness.
You’re not following a generic programme. You’re learning skills that last, with someone alongside you who understands how insomnia works and how to gently unlearn it.
If this feels like the right time to explore support, you can contact me here.
Further resources
If you’d like to explore more trustworthy information about sleep and insomnia, these resources are a good place to start. They’re clear, evidence‑based and reassuring. They are not the kind that increase pressure or make you feel worse about your sleep.
NHS guidance on insomnia
A straightforward overview of insomnia, common causes and when to seek help. NHS: Insomnia
Book: Overcoming Insomnia and Sleep Problems by Colin A. Espie
A practical, evidence‑based guide written by one of the leading researchers in the field. It’s compassionate, well-structured and based on CBT‑I principles. You can purchase it here.
The Sleep Charity (UK)
A supportive UK‑based organisation offering clear, accessible information about sleep and wellbeing accessible here. You can call the National Sleep Helpline for advice on 03303 530 541.
A reassuring video by Colin Espie
This short, compassionate talk narrated by Sacha Baron Cohen offers a calm, human perspective on sleep without the fear‑based messaging that’s so common online. You can access it here.