If you’ve been having trouble sleeping, you may be wondering if insomnia is a problem that can go away on its own.
The short answer is: Yes, in many cases, insomnia can resolve without any help from a doctor — but it often depends on recognizing and addressing the multiple problems that can add up to a major disruption in sleep.
The first thing I’d recommend you do is ask yourself if your insomnia might be due to a recent change in schedule or sleeping situation. Or could it be a result of a stressor in your personal or professional life? If yes, managing these changes or stressors aggressively along with amping up good sleep habits can likely get you back on track quicker.
If you have other medical or psychiatric conditions, or you've been dealing with insomnia for three months or more, make an appointment to talk to your doctor about your sleep problems. At the appointment, be prepared with information to share and questions to ask:
- Identify any recent stressors that could be worsening your sleep quality. Be sure to share what you’re doing to resolve the stressor, or ask them for help.
- Tell your doctor what changes you’ve implemented to improve your sleep habits and what kind of success or challenges you’ve had. Are you able to avoid light from screens at night? Are you able to sleep in a cool, quiet, and dark space? And very important, do you keep a regular sleep schedule with consistent wake up and bed times?
- You can also discuss how improving your diet and exercise habits or cutting back on alcohol can help your sleep.
- Share what health conditions you’re experiencing and provide details about how you’re doing and what your current and past therapies have been.
Knowing you’ve improved your sleep habits and are working on your stressors, your doctor can move to the next line of insomnia treatments. They may prescribe medication and they may refer you to a cognitive behavioral therapist trained to address insomnia to help you fine-tune lifestyle changes, help you understand your sleep challenges, and keep track of your sleep patterns. This therapist can counsel you on how to minimize negative thinking that may be worsening your sleep, and they can teach you relaxation techniques to get ready for sleep.
If you have any medical and psychiatric conditions, talk with your doctor about whether these could be playing a role in your insomnia. Your doctor may be able to adjust the treatment plan to help your sleep or at least stop disrupting it.
Here are the most common conditions that contribute to insomnia:
- Psychiatric conditions, including depression, anxiety, substance misuse, and post traumatic stress disorder
- Medical conditions, including lung disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, chronic pain, heart failure, and dementia
- Other sleep conditions, like sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome
- Medications with side effects that can disturb sleep, including steroids, central nervous system (CNS) stimulants, and certain antidepressants
- Substances that worsen insomnia, including alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine
Treating insomnia often requires addressing not only the insomnia itself, but also the underlying situations and health conditions worsening the insomnia.
Don’t let sleepless nights get you down. It can go away, and there’s quite a bit you can do to make that happen.
