Symptoms of Insomnia

People with insomnia are likely to experience a wide variety of different symptoms as each person will differ. You may have difficulty falling asleep, you may wake up during the night and struggle to sleep again and you may have difficulty staying asleep for long periods of time. If you have only just begun to experience some of these difficulties within your sleeping pattern, it is important that you assess the problem as the disrupted sleep pattern could become a chronic case of insomnia or other sleep disorders. If you are a long-term sufferer of sleep disorders, the root cause of the sleep disorder will need assessing to try and establish the issue that should be rectified.

It is not just nighttime symptoms that point towards insomnia, but also the affect the disorder may have on your daytime routine. Try and establish whether the following symptoms are relevant to you and if this is so find an appropriate treatment or seek advice.


  • Are you finding that you have poor concentration and focus in day-to-day task, such as driving and work-based tasks?
  • Are you struggling to remember certain things that you know you should remember?
  • Are you having difficulty falling asleep? (taking more than 30 minutes each time)
  • Are you having difficulty staying asleep for long periods of time?
  • Do you wake up too early and struggle to go back to sleep?
  • Are you worrying about sleeping due to your inability to sleep peacefully?
  • Are you feeling like you haven’t slept at all?
  • Have you recently suffered a period of stress such as a bereavement?
  • Have you experienced social difficulties, such as irritability with others?
  • Has your condition lasted for three months or longer?
  • Does the problem occur three or more times a week?

These are just a few of the complaints you may experience as an insomnia sufferer. If you find that several of these questions are relevant to you, you may wish to assess your sleeping patterns further to try and establish what solutions are available for you. It is difficult to differentiate a sleep disorder from wakefulness, and it is therefore very important to establish the difference using a sleep diary and then seek medical advice if necessary. 

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