Medical Disclaimer

Tips for Insomnia provides general educational information and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

What this site does

It explains what is commonly associated with better and worse sleep, and it helps you organize your own habits into something you can test. That is education, and for many people it is genuinely useful.

What this site does not do

It does not diagnose you with insomnia, sleep apnea, or anything else. Neither the guides nor the Sleep Friction Check nor Sleep Reset OS™ is a diagnostic tool.
It does not treat any condition, and nothing on it is a substitute for treatment.
It does not replace cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, which is delivered by trained providers.
It does not give advice about starting, stopping, changing or combining any sleep medication or supplement, including melatonin.
It is not psychotherapy and it is not treatment for anxiety or low mood.
It is not emergency or urgent medical care.

The Sleep Friction Check is not an assessment

It asks about everyday habits and surroundings and points at the areas most worth your attention first. It cannot detect a sleep disorder, it produces no clinical score, and twelve questions could not do so in any case. Do not use its result to rule anything in or out.

When to speak to a doctor

Please make an appointment — and none of these means something is definitely wrong, only that it deserves a proper look — if:

Sleep has been a problem for months and is affecting how you function during the day.
You snore loudly, or someone has seen you stop breathing, gasp or choke while asleep.
You struggle to stay awake when you need to be alert.
Pain, breathlessness or another physical symptom is what wakes you.
Your sleep changed suddenly with no explanation.
It comes alongside low mood, or worry you cannot put down.
You are pregnant and something about your sleep concerns you.
You are taking medication that affects your sleep.

There is a fuller version of this in when to see a doctor about your sleep, including what an appointment usually involves.

Do not drive while you are dangerously sleepy. This is the one thing on this site that is not merely uncomfortable. If you feel yourself struggling to stay awake at the wheel, stop somewhere safe rather than pushing on.

If you are in crisis, this site is the wrong place. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, contact your local emergency number or a crisis line in your country now. Sleep advice is not what you need in that moment and we are not equipped to help with it.

Individual variation

Almost nothing about sleep is the same for everybody. How long caffeine affects you, what room temperature suits you, how much sleep you need, and how quickly a schedule change takes hold all vary considerably between people. Where this site gives a range rather than a number, that is why — and where you see a confident universal number elsewhere, it is usually worth being suspicious of it.

No professional relationship

Reading this site, taking the Sleep Friction Check, or purchasing Sleep Reset OS™ does not create a doctor–patient or any other professional relationship. Always follow the advice of a clinician who knows your situation where it differs from anything here.

Questions and corrections

If you believe something on this site is medically wrong, tell us at support@tipsforinsomnia.com and we will correct it. How content is written and checked is set out in the editorial and review policy.