# Insomnia Test: Why Can't I Get a Good Night's Sleep? > A free, anonymous 12-question screening questionnaire to assess your trouble sleeping, its consequences during the day and the habits that keep it going. *https://mypsicotest.com/en/insomnia-test/ · 12 questions · 3 min · 100% free and anonymous · Updated: 2026-10-27* Do you toss and turn without falling asleep, wake in the small hours with your mind racing, or get up more tired than when you went to bed? **Insomnia** is the most common sleep disorder and, when it drags on, it wears down your mood, concentration and health. This **insomnia test** helps you gauge in three minutes how severe your sleep difficulties are and decide whether it is time to seek help. It is free, anonymous and your answers never leave your device. ## The 12 questions in this test *Think about how you have slept over the last 2 weeks.* 1. I find it hard to fall asleep: when I go to bed, I spend a long time tossing and turning before I drop off. 2. I wake up several times during the night and find it hard to get back to sleep. 3. I wake up much earlier than planned and cannot get back to sleep. 4. I get up feeling that my sleep has not been refreshing, even after spending plenty of hours in bed. 5. During the day I feel tired, drained or sleepy because I have slept badly. 6. Lack of sleep makes it hard for me to concentrate, remember things or perform at work or in my studies. 7. I am more irritable, low or on edge than usual because I am not resting well. 8. My sleep problems interfere with my daily life (work, relationships, activities) or the people around me notice that I sleep badly. 9. I worry about not sleeping well and think about it often during the day. 10. When I go to bed I get tense or frustrated, anticipating that I will not manage to sleep. 11. I use my phone, tablet, computer or the TV in bed before sleeping or when I cannot fall asleep. 12. I rely on caffeine (coffee, tea, energy drinks) from mid-afternoon onwards to get through the day, or on alcohol at night to help me sleep. **Answer scale:** 0 = Not at all · 1 = A little · 2 = Moderately · 3 = Quite a bit · 4 = Extremely ## Your result ### No significant indicators of insomnia (Score ≤ 12) Your answers reflect sleep that is generally satisfactory, or occasional difficulties that barely affect your day-to-day life. Everyone has the odd bad night because of a passing worry, a trip or a late dinner; what defines **insomnia** is that the difficulties recur several nights a week, persist over time and have consequences during the day. According to this screening, that is unlikely to be your case right now. - Keep up the habits that work for you: regular hours, natural light in the morning and a calm routine before bed. - If you notice bad nights increasing at stressful times, act early: the sooner habits are corrected, the less likely the problem is to become chronic. - If you feel exhausted during the day despite sleeping well, the cause may lie elsewhere: consider taking the stress test or the burnout test. ### Mild trouble sleeping (Score ≤ 24) You have some difficulty sleeping or a degree of daytime tiredness, but of mild intensity. This level often corresponds to **early or situational insomnia**: a period of heavier mental load, a change of schedule or habits working against you, such as screens in bed or caffeine in the afternoon. Check the breakdown by area: if worry about sleep already scores high, it is worth intervening before the problem settles in. - Set a stable wake-up time, weekends included, and avoid long naps: these are the two measures with the greatest effect on your body clock. - Leave your phone outside the bedroom and swap the last hour of screens for reading, a shower or gentle stretching. - Keep a sleep diary for two weeks: it will help you spot patterns and will be very useful if you decide to consult a professional. ### Moderate indicators of insomnia (Score ≤ 36) Your score indicates sleep difficulties of moderate intensity, with a clear impact on your energy, concentration or mood. This pattern is **consistent with insomnia disorder**, especially if it recurs three or more nights a week and has lasted more than three months. In this range, generic sleep-hygiene tips usually fall short: the most effective option is a structured treatment such as cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia. - See your GP or a psychologist trained in sleep; cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the first-line treatment and delivers results within a few weeks. - Start applying stimulus control: bed only for sleeping, and if you have been awake for more than 20 minutes, get up and come back when you feel sleepy. - Rule out other causes: if you snore, others notice pauses in your breathing or you get uncomfortable sensations in your legs at night, mention it to your doctor. ### High indicators of insomnia (Score ≤ 48) You have described intense difficulty falling or staying asleep, significant daytime distress and a worry about sleep that is probably making it even worse. A result like this usually corresponds to **chronic insomnia** that affects health, performance and relationships, and that often coexists with anxiety, stress or low mood. The good news is that insomnia, even after years, responds very well to cognitive behavioural therapy, without having to rely on sleeping pills. - Book an appointment as soon as possible with your doctor or a psychologist specialised in sleep for a full assessment and a treatment plan; do not normalise it. - Avoid self-medicating with alcohol or unsupervised sleeping pills: they bring short-term relief but perpetuate the problem. - If you also notice very low mood, constant anxiety or thoughts that life is not worth living, tell a professional without delay: severe insomnia and depression often go hand in hand. ## What is insomnia? Acute and chronic insomnia **Insomnia** is the persistent difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep or getting back to sleep after waking too early, despite having adequate opportunity and conditions for sleep, accompanied by distress or poorer functioning during the day. It is not defined by the number of hours slept (some people need six, others nine) but by **dissatisfaction with sleep and its consequences**. It is the most common sleep disorder: around a third of adults are estimated to experience insomnia symptoms at some point, and roughly **10%** meet the criteria for chronic insomnia disorder. ### Acute or short-term insomnia It lasts days or weeks and is usually linked to an identifiable trigger: an exam, a problem at work, a break-up, a bereavement, an illness or a change of schedule. It usually resolves once the trigger disappears or the person adapts. ### Chronic insomnia The DSM-5-TR calls it *insomnia disorder* and requires the difficulties to occur at least **three nights a week for a minimum of three months**, to cause significant distress or impair daily functioning, and not to be better explained by another sleep disorder, a substance or a medical condition. ICD-11 uses equivalent criteria. In chronic insomnia the original trigger has usually passed; what keeps it going are habits, worry and the learned arousal that surrounds the act of going to sleep. ## Insomnia symptoms: what happens at night and what happens by day Insomnia symptoms are split between what happens in bed and what happens the next day. Both are needed to speak of a disorder: sleeping little with no daytime consequences is not insomnia, and feeling tired despite satisfactory sleep points to other causes. ### Night-time symptoms - Regularly taking more than 30 minutes to fall asleep. - Frequent or prolonged awakenings during the night. - Waking for good much earlier than wanted, unable to get back to sleep. - Light, shallow sleep or a feeling of "never having switched off". - A racing mind when the light goes out: replaying the day, plans, worries. ### Daytime consequences - Fatigue, lack of energy or sleepiness. - Difficulty concentrating, memory lapses, mistakes and lower performance. - Irritability, sadness, anxiety or low tolerance for frustration. - Headaches, digestive discomfort or muscle tension. - Constant worry about sleep and dread of the following night. In the long term, **chronic insomnia** is associated with a higher risk of depression and anxiety, high blood pressure, metabolic changes, road and workplace accidents and poorer immune function. That is why it should not be normalised or left to "pass on its own" once it has been settled in for months. ## Causes of insomnia: stress, anxiety, habits and other conditions Insomnia rarely has a single cause. The most widely accepted model, the **three-factor model** (predisposing, precipitating and perpetuating factors), explains why a spell of poor sleep ends up becoming chronic: - **Predisposing factors:** a tendency to hyperarousal, a perfectionist or ruminative personality, family history, older age. - **Precipitating factors:** work or financial **stress**, a relationship conflict, a bereavement, childbirth, an illness, a change of shift or of country. - **Perpetuating factors:** what we do to make up for poor sleep and which, paradoxically, keeps it going: going to bed earlier, lying awake in bed, long naps, caffeine to get through the day, alcohol to fall asleep, screens in bed and growing worry about sleep. Conditions that cause or worsen insomnia include **anxiety** and **depression**, obstructive sleep apnoea (snoring and pauses in breathing), restless legs syndrome, chronic pain, reflux, thyroid problems, the menopause and certain medicines (some antidepressants, corticosteroids, bronchodilators, stimulants or decongestants). Irregular hours, shift work and jet lag disrupt the body clock and produce a similar picture. ### Insomnia in women and in older people Women are around 40% more likely than men to suffer from insomnia, with peaks during pregnancy, the postnatal period and perimenopause, when hot flushes and hormonal changes fragment sleep. With age, sleep becomes lighter and shifts earlier, and awakenings increase; but insomnia that affects the day **is not a normal consequence of ageing** and can be treated too. ## How does this online insomnia test work? This questionnaire consists of **12 statements** spread across three areas, following the structure of the Insomnia Severity Index and current diagnostic criteria: - **Difficulties during the night** (4 items): falling asleep, awakenings, early waking and unrefreshing sleep. - **Daytime consequences** (4 items): tiredness, concentration, mood and interference with everyday life. - **Worry and habits** (4 items): anxiety around sleep and the behaviours that tend to perpetuate insomnia, such as screens in bed, caffeine and alcohol. For each statement, indicate how well it describes what has happened to you over the **last two weeks**, from "not at all" (0 points) to "extremely" (4 points). At the end you get a total score from 0 to 48 and a breakdown by area that shows whether your problem is mainly night-time, daytime or one of worry and habits, which points to where to start working. The test is scored entirely in your browser: we do not ask for your name or email and we store none of your answers. Answer according to what happens on most nights, not the worst of them, and if you hesitate between two options choose the one that best reflects your usual situation. ## How to interpret your insomnia test score Scores are grouped into four indicative levels: - **0-12 · Low:** no significant indicators of insomnia; occasional difficulties with no daytime impact. - **13-24 · Mild:** mild or early difficulties; worth reviewing habits and monitoring how they evolve. - **25-36 · Moderate:** pattern consistent with insomnia disorder; consulting a professional and considering CBT-I is recommended. - **37-48 · High:** intense insomnia with a significant impact; assessment should be a priority. Remember that **this test is a screening, not a diagnosis**. It measures how intense your difficulties have been over the last two weeks, but it cannot tell how long they have been present, how many nights a week they occur or whether they stem from another condition, such as sleep apnoea or depression. A high score means your sleep deserves professional attention; a low score does not rule out a problem if you feel you sleep badly. The breakdown by area adds useful information: if you score high on "worry and habits", it is very likely that anxiety about sleeping and certain routines are feeding the problem, and that is precisely the area where cognitive behavioural therapy achieves the best results. ## Insomnia, anxiety, depression and stress: a two-way relationship Sleep and mental health influence each other. **Stress** switches on the alarm system (cortisol, adrenaline, racing thoughts) just when the body needs to wind down, and that is where the sleep-onset insomnia typical of overloaded periods comes from. **Anxiety** adds anticipation: the person starts to dread the night, checks the clock, counts the hours left and turns the bed into a place of tension. In **depression**, early-morning waking is very characteristic, around 4 or 5 a.m., with rumination and no way back to sleep, although the opposite can also occur: sleeping too much. The relationship runs both ways: persistent insomnia **multiplies the risk of developing depression and anxiety**, and treating it improves the outlook for both. That is why insomnia is now considered to deserve attention in its own right, even when it coexists with another disorder, rather than being a mere symptom that will vanish once "the real problem" is solved. If your score on this test is moderate or high, we recommend also completing the anxiety test, the depression test or the stress test: they will give you a fuller picture of what is going on and make the conversation with the professional who sees you easier. ## What to do after the test: evidence-based insomnia treatment If your result is moderate or high, or if you have been sleeping badly for more than three months, the next step is a **professional assessment**: a clinical interview, a two-week sleep diary and validated questionnaires. If apnoea, restless legs or another medical cause is suspected, your doctor may request a sleep study. ### Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) It is the **first-line treatment** according to the main international clinical guidelines, ahead of medication, because its benefits last after the course ends. Over 4-8 sessions, in person or online, it combines: - **Stimulus control:** go to bed only when sleepy, use the bed solely for sleeping, get up if you are not asleep within about 20 minutes and keep a fixed wake-up time. - **Sleep restriction:** temporarily match your time in bed to the time you actually sleep, to consolidate sleep and recover the feeling of deep sleep. - **Cognitive restructuring:** challenge the beliefs that fuel anxiety about sleep ("if I don't get eight hours, tomorrow will be a disaster"). - **Relaxation and worry management:** breathing, muscle relaxation and techniques for "parking" worries before bed. - **Sleep hygiene:** natural light in the morning, regular exercise, no caffeine from mid-afternoon, no alcohol as a sleep aid, and a dark, cool, screen-free bedroom. Hypnotic medication can help in acute insomnia or at the start of therapy, always on prescription and for short periods, because it loses effectiveness and creates dependence. ### When to see a doctor Book an appointment if you snore loudly or others notice pauses in your breathing, if you are very sleepy during the day (especially when driving), if you get uncomfortable sensations in your legs at night, if the insomnia comes with very low mood, or if you have not slept well for more than three months. A psychologist specialised in sleep and anxiety, such as the one we recommend at the end of the test, can guide you through CBT-I. ## The scientific basis of this insomnia test The questions in this questionnaire were written from the **DSM-5-TR criteria for insomnia disorder** (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, text revision) and ICD-11, and follow the structure of the **Insomnia Severity Index (ISI)**, the brief screening instrument most widely used in research and clinical practice, which assesses difficulty falling and staying asleep, early waking, satisfaction with sleep, daytime interference and worry about the problem. To that structure we have added items on the habits that perpetuate insomnia (screens, caffeine and alcohol), in line with the three-factor model and with the components of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, recommended as first-line treatment by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the European insomnia guideline. The cut-off points are indicative and were set to maximise sensitivity. The content has been reviewed by the MyPsicoTest team and is updated periodically in line with current clinical guidelines. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can this insomnia test diagnose me? No. It is a screening tool that estimates how intense your sleep difficulties are and how much they affect your daily life. A diagnosis of insomnia disorder is made by a healthcare professional after a clinical interview, a sleep diary and, where necessary, tests to rule out other causes. ### How do I know if I have insomnia or am just sleeping badly for a few days? The key lies in frequency, duration and consequences. We speak of insomnia when the difficulties occur three or more nights a week, last for weeks or months and take their toll by day: tiredness, irritability, poor concentration. A few bad nights for a specific reason that resolve on their own are not a disorder. ### How many hours of sleep do I need? Most adults need between seven and nine hours, but there is individual variation. More important than the figure is how you feel during the day: if you wake refreshed and perform well on six and a half hours, that is probably your sleep. Obsessing over reaching eight hours is, in fact, one of the beliefs that feed insomnia. ### What is the difference between acute and chronic insomnia? Acute insomnia lasts less than three months and is usually due to an identifiable stressor; chronic insomnia goes on for three months or more, at least three nights a week, and is maintained by habits and worry even after the trigger has gone. Chronic insomnia is the kind that benefits most from cognitive behavioural therapy. ### Is it bad to take sleeping pills? Hypnotics prescribed by a doctor can help for a short period, for example in acute insomnia or at the start of therapy. The problem is using them for months: they lose effectiveness, create tolerance and dependence and do not correct the causes. That is why guidelines recommend CBT-I as the first option and medication as occasional support. ### What is CBT-I and does it really work? Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is a brief, structured programme (usually 4-8 sessions) that combines stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive techniques, relaxation and sleep hygiene. It is the treatment with the strongest evidence: most people improve markedly and the benefits are maintained in the long term, including in online formats. ### Can insomnia be cured? In the great majority of cases insomnia improves considerably or resolves with the right treatment, even after years. Typically the person regains satisfying sleep and learns tools to manage relapses during stressful periods, which may still appear but no longer become chronic. ### Do you store my answers? No. The test is scored on your own device and we neither send nor store any answers; nor do we ask for your name or email. If you want to keep your result or show it to a professional, take a screenshot before closing the page. ## We recommend talking to a psychologist Xènia Capel Salcedo — Licensed clinical psychologist · COPC no. 14982. Online and in-person therapy (Igualada and Sant Sadurní d'Anoia, Spain). Master's in Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. Evidence-based integrative approach: EMDR, eating disorders, ADHD, autism, anxiety and depression. Free, no-obligation first consultation call. https://psicologaigualada.es/en/therapist-psychologist-igualada/ --- *This test is an indicative screening tool. It does not replace a clinical assessment and is not a diagnosis. If you have concerns about your mental health, consult a licensed professional.*