What Causes Insomnia?

🧠 Stress and Anxiety

Stress activates your nervous system and keeps your brain alert. Whether it's daily worries or chronic anxiety, this emotional tension can make it hard to fall asleep, stay asleep, or feel rested in the morning. Even when your body is tired, your mind may be on overdrive.

💼 Work, Schedules, and Lifestyle

Late nights, shift work, overworking, or a packed calendar can quietly push your bedtime later and throw off your sleep rhythm. Even habits like eating late or always checking your phone at night can build patterns that make rest feel harder.

🌙 Circadian Rhythm Disruptions

Your circadian rhythm is your body’s natural clock. It's tuned by light, movement, and regularity. Travel, inconsistent sleep times, or lack of morning sunlight can confuse your internal signals and delay sleep onset—especially for night owls or frequent travelers.

📱 Technology and Blue Light

Screens before bed—phones, tablets, TVs—can suppress melatonin and keep your brain stimulated when it should be slowing down. Bright light at night and endless scroll loops delay sleep, even if you feel relaxed while doing them.

🧪 Hormones and Brain Chemistry

Sleep is guided by hormones like melatonin and cortisol. Stress raises cortisol levels. Hormonal changes from puberty, menopause, or thyroid issues can all shift how easily you fall asleep. If your rhythm feels "off," hormones may be part of the story.

💊 Medications and Substances

What you consume throughout the day—especially in the evening—can have a major impact on how you sleep. Some substances delay sleep, while others fragment it or reduce sleep quality, even if you stay in bed for eight hours.

Here are some common examples that may affect your sleep:

• Caffeine: Found in coffee, tea, energy drinks, chocolate, and some pain relievers. It blocks adenosine, the brain’s natural sleep signal.
• Nicotine: A stimulant that can make it harder to fall and stay asleep, especially if used close to bedtime.
• Alcohol: Can make you feel sleepy at first, but often disrupts REM sleep and causes early morning awakenings.
• Stimulant medications: Includes ADHD meds like Adderall or Ritalin, or decongestants containing pseudoephedrine.
• Antidepressants: Some SSRIs and SNRIs may delay REM sleep or cause vivid dreams and restlessness.
• Steroids: Corticosteroids (like prednisone) can raise alertness and interfere with sleep onset.
• Diuretics: Often prescribed for blood pressure, these may cause frequent nighttime urination.

If you're struggling with sleep, it's worth reviewing everything you're taking—prescription, over-the-counter, or recreational—and discussing it with your healthcare provider. Small adjustments to timing or dosage can make a big difference.

🩺 Medical and Mental Health Conditions

Chronic pain, sleep apnea, restless legs, anxiety, depression, and ADHD can all impact your ability to sleep naturally. Sometimes insomnia is a symptom of a deeper issue—and sometimes it becomes a challenge of its own.

🫁 Breathing Issues That Disrupt Sleep

Some people struggle with insomnia-like symptoms—difficulty staying asleep, early waking, or unrefreshing rest—because of undiagnosed sleep apnea. This condition can cause your body to jolt awake during the night without you realizing why.

ClaraWell™ also offers a quick sleep apnea screener to help you explore whether breathing may be part of your sleep challenges.

🧬 Genetic and Biological Predisposition

Some people are naturally lighter sleepers or more prone to wakefulness. If insomnia runs in your family or you’ve always struggled with rest, your nervous system may be more sensitive to disruption. It’s not your fault—it’s how you're wired.

🔁 The Cycle of Insomnia

One bad night can trigger anxiety about sleep itself. That fear can create tension at bedtime, leading to more bad nights. Over time, this becomes a self-reinforcing loop. Recognizing the cycle is the first step toward breaking it. You can also explore the different types of insomnia to see how yours might be showing up.

📉 When Multiple Causes Stack

Insomnia often has more than one cause. A little stress, a skipped walk, an extra cup of coffee, or hormonal changes can quietly layer into a bigger sleep disruption. These overlapping factors don’t always show up at once—but they can add weight over time.

That’s why it’s so important to understand what affects you most. We all have different sensitivities, habits, and patterns. What disrupts someone else’s sleep might not impact yours—and vice versa. Self-awareness is where real sleep improvement begins.

The goal isn’t to control everything. It’s to recognize what matters most for your body, your brain, and your rest. Learn more about medical, behavioral, and lifestyle causes of insomnia on the Sleep Foundation.