The insomnia library
Understanding insomnia, from the inside out
A body of clinical work on why chronic insomnia takes hold and what actually resolves it, by Angus Munro, clinical psychologist. Start with the cornerstones, or browse the full library below.
How insomnia works
The mechanism behind chronic insomnia, and why it persists no matter how hard you try.
Insomnia: What It Is, Why It Persists, and What Actually …
Insomnia is persistent difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting sleep that leaves you feeling rested, despite having enough time and…
Read →Circadian Rhythm: Your Body Clock, Sleep, and What It Can…
Your circadian rhythm is the roughly 24-hour internal clock that tells your body when to feel alert and when to wind down, syncing your sleep, hormones,…
Read →Why Do I Wake Up at 3am (and Can't Get Back to Sleep)?
Waking briefly in the small hours is normal. Your sleep naturally lightens toward morning, so a 3am wake is often nothing to fix. The problem is what…
Read →Sleep Paralysis: Why It Happens, and Why It Isn't Dangerous
Sleep paralysis is a brief, harmless episode in which you wake up mentally but cannot move or speak, because your body is still held in the muscle…
Read →What actually treats it
The evidence-based path out, and why effort is the one thing that makes sleep retreat further.
Treatment for Sleeping Problems: What Works, and Why Tryi…
The most effective treatment for sleeping problems is not a stronger sedative or a stricter bedtime routine. For ongoing insomnia, the treatment with the…
Read →CBT-I: The First-Line Treatment for Chronic Insomnia, and…
CBT-I, short for cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, is the structured, non-drug treatment that every major clinical guideline now names as the…
Read →Sleep Anxiety: When the Fear of Not Sleeping Is the Thing…
Sleep anxiety is worry and fear about sleep itself: about whether you will fall asleep, how bad tomorrow will be, or what is wrong with you for lying…
Read →How to Stop a Racing Mind at Night
If you want to know how to stop a racing mind at night, here is the part most advice skips: you do not stop it by trying harder to stop it. A racing mind…
Read →How to Fall Asleep Fast (Without Trying Harder)
The fastest way to fall asleep is to stop trying to fall asleep fast. That sounds like a riddle, but it is the most useful thing I can tell you as a…
Read →The medication question
Sleeping pills, melatonin and supplements — assessed honestly against the evidence.
Side Effects of Melatonin: What to Know Before You Rely o…
The side effects of melatonin are usually mild and short-lived. The ones people report most often are next-day grogginess, headache, dizziness, mild…
Read →Ambien Withdrawal: What It Is, and How to Come Off Safely
Ambien withdrawal is the temporary rebound in poor sleep, and the physical re-adjustment, that can follow stopping zolpidem (the drug in Ambien) after…
Read →Magnesium Bisglycinate for Sleep: What to Know
Magnesium bis-glycinate is elemental magnesium bound to two molecules of the amino acid glycine, a chelated form marketed as gentler on the stomach and…
Read →Myths that keep you awake
The familiar advice that quietly feeds the very arousal it claims to fix.
Why Sleep Hygiene Isn't Working for Your Insomnia
If you have perfected your sleep hygiene, blackout curtains, no screens at night, no caffeine after noon, and you still can't sleep, you are not doing it…
Read →Mouth Tape for Sleep: Does It Actually Help Insomnia?
Mouth tape is a strip of skin-safe tape worn across the lips at night to hold the mouth closed and route breathing through the nose. It is sold for…
Read →The full library
Understanding insomnia
- Anger and Sleep Deprivation: Why a Bad Night Shortens You…
- Can Propranolol Cause Insomnia? Why It Happens
- Can Vitamin D Deficiency Cause Sleeplessness?
- Can't Sleep After Quitting Weed: What to Expect
- Can't Sleep Because You're Too Hot: Why, and What Helps
- Can't Sleep With a Sore Throat: How to Get Relief
- Can't Sleep With a Stuffy Nose: Why It Happens and What H…
- Can't Sleep With the Flu? Why It Happens and What Actuall…
- Can't Sleep? What to Do When You're Lying Awake
- Circadian Rhythm: Your Body Clock, Sleep, and What It Can…
- Clonazepam Dose for Insomnia: What to Know
- Coughing All Night and Can't Sleep: What Helps
- Do Bananas Help With Sleeplessness? What the Evidence Says
- Does Hypertension Cause Insomnia? How They're Linked
- Fatal Familial Insomnia: What It Is and How Rare It Is
- Hallucinations From Sleep Deprivation: Why They Happen
- Heart Beating Fast at Night, Can't Sleep: What It Means
- Herbal Teas for Insomnia: What They Can and Can't Do
- How to Fall Asleep Fast (Without Trying Harder)
- How to Stop Restless Legs Immediately
- Hypnic Jerk: Why You Twitch as You Fall Asleep
- Insomnia During Your Period: Why It Happens and What Helps
- Insomnia From Prednisone: Why It Happens and What Helps
- Insomnia in the First Trimester: Why It Happens and What …
- Insomnia: What It Is, Why It Persists, and What Actually …
- Light Therapy for Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome: What It F…
- Narcolepsy and Its Symptoms: What It Is, Its Causes, and …
- Prenatal Yoga for Insomnia: Does It Help You Sleep?
- Relaxation Tips for Sleep: How to Lower the Arousal That …
- Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS): What It Is, the Signs, and …
- Sleep Deprivation and Fatigue: Why They're Not the Same
- Why Do I Wake Up at 3am (and Can't Get Back to Sleep)?
- Zepbound and Insomnia: Why It Happens and What Helps
Treatment
- CBT-I: The First-Line Treatment for Chronic Insomnia, and…
- How Long Does a Sleep Study Take? The Logistics, and the …
- How to Sleep Better When You're Sick
- Paradoxical Intention: The Counterintuitive Fix for Insomnia
- Sleep Coach for Adults: What They Do and When to See One
- Sleep Compression vs Sleep Restriction: What's the Differ…
- Stimulus Control Therapy: Retraining Your Bed for Sleep
- Treatment for Sleeping Problems: What Works, and Why Tryi…
Sleep & anxiety
- Best Antidepressants for Anxiety and Sleep: A Clinical Pe…
- Essential Oils for Anxiety and Sleep: What They Can Do
- How to Stop a Racing Mind at Night
- Sleep Anxiety: When the Fear of Not Sleeping Is the Thing…
- The Best Sleep Tracker: Choosing One Without More Anxiety
- Tired But Can't Sleep: Why It Happens and What Actually H…
Medication & supplements
- Ambien Side Effects in Women: What to Know
- Ambien Withdrawal: What It Is, and How to Come Off Safely
- Amitriptyline for Sleep: How It Works and Side Effects
- Benadryl Dosage for Sleep: What's Safe and What to Know
- Best Melatonin Gummies: An Honest Clinical Look
- CBD for Sleep: What the Evidence Actually Shows
- Does Warm Milk Help You Sleep? What the Evidence Says
- Doxepin Side Effects: What to Expect the Next Day
- Foods That Help You Sleep: What Works and What Doesn't
- Grapefruit Juice and Sleeping Pills: The Real Interaction…
- How Long Does It Take for Melatonin to Start Working?
- How Long Does Mirtazapine Take to Work?
- How Much Magnesium Per Day? Daily Needs Explained
- How to Reduce a Sleeping Pill's Effect Immediately
- How to Stop Taking Melatonin Safely
- Kirkland Sleep Aid: What It Is and How It Works
- L-Theanine for Sleep: What It Does and What to Expect
- L-Theanine Side Effects: What to Know
- Lunesta Dosage: How It's Decided and What to Know
- Magnesium Bisglycinate for Sleep: What to Know
- Magnesium for Restless Legs: Does It Help?
- Melatonin Dosage: How Much to Take and When
- Melatonin vs Magnesium for Sleep: What Each One Actually …
- Melatonin: the hormone people take for sleep, and what it…
- Mirtazapine for Sleep: What It Does, What the Evidence Sa…
- OTC Sleep Aids: What They Are and How They Work
- Seroquel Side Effects: What to Know Before Using It for S…
- Side Effects of Magnesium: What to Watch For
- Side Effects of Melatonin: What to Know Before You Rely o…
- Sleep Aids for Jet Lag: What Works and What Doesn't
- Sleeping Pills and NyQuil: Why You Shouldn't Mix Them
- The Best Magnesium Pill for Sleep: Which Form and Why
- The Best Sleep Tablet: What the Research Actually Says
- Trazodone Side Effects: What to Expect
- Valerian Root Side Effects: What to Know
- When Is the Best Time to Take Magnesium for Sleep?
- Which Sleeping Pill Is Dangerous? What the Evidence Actua…
- Why Isn't Trazodone Helping Me Sleep?
- Zolpidem vs Zopiclone: How They Compare
- Zopiclone Side Effects: What to Expect
Sleep & life
- Can't Sleep Before an Exam? Here's What's Actually Going On
- How Much Sleep Do New Parents Get?
- How much sleep does a teenager need?
- How to Sleep in Pregnancy
- Menopause Insomnia: How Long Does It Last?
- Perimenopause and Sleep Disorders: Why Sleep Comes Apart
- Sciatica Pain: How to Sleep More Comfortably
- Shift Work Sleep Disorder: What It Is and What Actually H…
- Sleep Paralysis: Why It Happens, and Why It Isn't Dangerous
- Sleeplessness and Pregnancy: Why It Happens and What Helps
- When to Stop Sleeping on Your Stomach During Pregnancy
- Why Can't Pregnant Women Sleep on Their Backs?
- Why Do the Elderly Sleep So Much?
Myths & habits
- Biphasic Sleep, Mouth Taping and the Sleep Fixes That Don…
- Does the Military Sleep Method Actually Work?
- How Does Alcohol Affect Sleeping?
- How Does Sleep Debt Work?
- How Long Does REM Sleep Last? The Honest Answer, and Why …
- How Long Should a Nap Be? A Clinical Psychologist's Strai…
- How Much Deep Sleep Do You Need (and Why the Number May B…
- How Much Sleep Do I Need? Using a Sleep Calculator
- How to Sleep 8 Hours in 3 Hours: The Honest Answer
- Mouth Tape for Sleep: Does It Actually Help Insomnia?
- Mouth Taping for Sleep: Does It Work, and Is It Safe?
- Mouth Taping With a Deviated Septum: What It Can and Can'…
- Pink Noise for Sleep: What It Is and Does It Help?
- The Best Sleeping Position: What Actually Matters
- Why Does Caffeine Make Me Sleepy?
- Why Is Sleep Important? What It Does for Body and Mind
- Why Sleep Hygiene Isn't Working for Your Insomnia