Acute vs. chronic insomnia
“Bad sleep often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cognitive therapy interrupts that cycle.”
Wendy. She had insomnia herself.Acute insomnia shows up after a stressful event and lasts a few days or weeks. Chronic insomnia sticks around for weeks, months, or years — often after the original stressor is long gone.
Why does it keep going? Each of us has a natural “arousal level.” When stress pushes you above the insomnia threshold, sleep breaks. The stress fades, but unhealthy habits and anxious thoughts perpetuate the problem.
The two perpetuating factors
- Maladaptive sleep behaviors — too much time awake in bed, irregular schedules, daytime naps, late caffeine, screens in bed.
- Cognitive & emotional factors — worry about sleep, beliefs about how much you “need,” catastrophizing the next day, anxiety walking into the bedroom.
CBT-I targets both. Unlike medication, it removes the cause — which is why it can actually cure chronic insomnia.
Sleeping pills cover the symptoms. CBT addresses the cause.