Why Am I Suddenly Having Insomnia?

If you've found yourself tossing and turning lately when sleep used to come easily, you're definitely not alone. Insomnia - difficulty with falling or staying asleep - impacts up to 30% of people at least occasionally.

So what’s going on? What brings on insomnia? Why do some people get insomnia and not others? The answer is complex, but essentially we think that you are born with some sort of predisposition to experiencing insomnia. In other words, you’re born with a vulnerability to experiencing insomnia at some point in your life. But here's the important part: just because you might be more prone to insomnia doesn't mean you're destined to experience it. It just means that under certain circumstances, you might be more likely to develop difficulty sleeping.

We think that there is typically a precipitant to experiencing insomnia - something that kicks off the insomnia. This is why it can feel like you’re suddenly having trouble sleeping when you’ve never had this problem before. There are so many things that can set off insomnia. Precipitants of insomnia can include things like health problems, long hospitalizations, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. They can be stressful life changes, like starting a stressful job. They can also be things that feel like they “should” just bring happiness and joy - like getting married or having a baby.

What do I do if I’m suddenly experiencing insomnia?

The answer to this is that it depends. If your insomnia just started, tackling whatever might have triggered it is often your best first step. Are you dealing with anxiety? Working on managing that stress could help your sleep bounce back. Struggling with pain or another health issue? Addressing that underlying problem might be key.

At the same time, try setting up healthy sleep habits as well. You can do things like keeping a regular bedtime and wake time and avoiding too much caffeine or alcohol. The goal with these habits isn't just to help you sleep better now, but to prevent your insomnia from becoming a long-term problem. If we don’t take care of ourselves, insomnia can stick around even after the original trigger is gone, so establishing healthy sleep habits can be really protective.

References:

1. Ellis JG, et al. The natural history of insomnia: focus on prevalence and incidence of acute insomnia. J Psychiatr Res. 2012;46(10):1278–1285.
2. Perlis, M. L., Vargas, I., Ellis, J. G., Grandner, M. A., Morales, K. H., Gencarelli, A., ... & Thase, M. E. (2020). The natural history of insomnia: the incidence of acute insomnia and subsequent progression to chronic insomnia or recovery in good sleeper subjects. Sleep, 43(6), zsz299.
3. Spielman A, Caruso L, Glovinsky P. A behavioral perspective on insomnia treatment. Psychiatric Clinics of North America. 1987; 10:541–553.