# Insomnia Severity Index

Insomnia severity over the last 2 weeks



For each question, think about the last two weeks.



## The questions

1. Difficulty falling asleep

2. Difficulty staying asleep

3. Problem waking up too early

4. How satisfied/dissatisfied are you with your current sleep pattern?

5. How noticeable to others do you think your sleep problem is in terms of impairing the quality of your life?

6. How worried/distressed are you about your current sleep problem?

7. To what extent does your sleep problem interfere with your daily functioning (fatigue, mood, concentration, work…)?



## How scores are read

- **No clinically significant insomnia** — Your sleep pattern is not a clinical problem. Beware of health anxiety — over-fixating on sleep can itself become the problem. Next step: Aim for resilience, not optimisation. Run one experiment at a time if you want to upgrade.

- **Subthreshold insomnia** — Some insomnia symptoms. Often driven by arousal at bedtime (novelty-seeking screens, cognitive load), inconsistent schedules or environment. Next step: Try a down-regulation routine or chamomile/apigenin as a 'frontal cortex off' switch. Check your regularity chart. Re-screen in 2 weeks.

- **Clinical insomnia (moderate)** — Moderate clinical insomnia. Melatonin is not the answer — it resets circadian rhythm, it doesn't fix mid-night waking. Next step: Ask your doctor about CBT-I (first-line treatment). Bring this score and your sleep log.

- **Clinical insomnia (severe)** — Severe insomnia that is impairing your life. Next step: See a doctor or sleep specialist. CBT-I is the evidence-based first line; a sleep study can rule out apnea or RLS as drivers.

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Educational summary of published research, not medical advice. Screening scores are not diagnoses. If a score is elevated or you feel unwell, talk to a clinician.

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