[Unfatigued]

As a lifelong insomniac, I’ve been interested in sleep science for decades, and read many books and articles on the subject. One thing I’m not clear on, though, is the long term health effects of insomnia.

On the one hand, it’s easy to find articles and studies (from trustworthy, evidence-based sources) stating that insufficient or poor quality sleep is linked to several health issues, such as heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, stroke and depression. But on the other hand, it’s possible to find articles and studies that claim there are no links between insomnia and serious health issues.

How can both of these be true at the same time? I have often wondered.

[Unfatigued]

Still don’t have a clear answer to this, but I’m coming to the conclusion that those articles claiming there are no links between insomnia and serious health issues are probably just talking about acute insomnia, which makes sense. It’s chronic insomnia that – like chronic sleep deprivation – is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure etc.

[Martin Reed]

Lots of “links”, “associations”, “mays”, “mights”, “coulds” etc! However, not one study has found chronic insomnia causes any health problem whatsoever.

Also worth considering is that many of these studies don’t involve people with insomnia — some don’t involve human beings at all and many look at sleep duration independently of insomnia presence and might also involve sleep deprivation (the deliberate reduction of sleep opportunity).

We might expect there to be a higher risk of cancer in people who live in houses with ashtrays. Does that mean ashtrays cause cancer? 🙂

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[Unfatigued]

I wouldn’t want to dismiss studies that show a link between chronic insomnia and health issues as readily as you seem to. It seems pretty clear that insufficient sleep (for whatever reason) is bad for your health, and chronic insomnia usually involves insufficient sleep, so it’s reasonable to conclude that chronic insomnia is also bad for your health (absent a plausible explanation of why it isn’t).

The same kind of argument applies to ashtrays and cancer. Sure, ashtrays don’t cause cancer, but their presence in a house usually involves smoking, and so they would be a pretty good predictor of cancer in the people who live there.

[Martin Reed]

I apologize if my post came across as dismissive — that was not my intent! My intent was to share that no studies have found chronic insomnia causes any health condition whatsoever. That fact doesn’t dismiss the fact that insomnia is really difficult — this website wouldn’t exist otherwise!

I also wanted to clarify the difference between associations and causation (using ashtrays as an example) since that can trip many people up and create some confusion.

Thanks for your feedback 🙂

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If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.

The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.

[hiker]

Hi Unfatigued, I also have had concerns about chronic insomnia and long term health. But I do agree with Martin on the dubious efficacy of the studies. Since Covid, I have been following my scientist wife’s caution to check to see if the study has been peer-reviewed. Most of the time you will not see that included in the description, which means that maybe there is causation, but further study is required to truly verify. Also worth checking to see if the study is in a reputable journal, e.g. New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, or through Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, the Cleveland Clinic.

The only definitive evidence I have come across pertains to sleep apnea. Those sleep studies involve instruments which can measure and document breathing difficulties. These studies are reviewed by sleep medicine physicians, who are in my view highly competent medical engineers, but not so good on the emotional aspects of insomnia.

I think there most definitely can be long term emotional aspects of insomnia, to the extent we let it run the show. Which is easy to fall into when you’re hammered from lack of sleep. Add to that aging: coming up on 72, sometimes I feel like I must be losing my marbles when i come upstairs and can’t remember what I came up here to get. And eventually I remember–and also remember that everybody does that sometimes.

Insomnia can be a real bear, as you clearly know. It makes me think I must be losing my mind now and then, but actual physical damage to brain, heart, etc.? No. (Exception: re the sleep apnea, which again can be measured with instruments, there is significant risk of stroke if untreated, generally with CPAP therapy.)

Take care, you are not alone in this.

[Author]

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