Track sleep onset and awakenings.
Clinical insomnia assessments weigh three things: how long you take to fall asleep, how much of the night you spend awake afterwards, and how often it happens. Thirty minutes is the conventional threshold for both onset and wake-after-sleep-onset, so each is scored against that benchmark, with awakening count and weekly frequency added. Multiplying nightly wakefulness by affected nights gives the weekly sleep debt the pattern creates.
Insomnia pattern score
Score = onset/30 x 25 + minutes awake/30 x 25 + awakenings x 5 + nights per week/7 x 20, each capped; weekly lost hours = (onset + minutes awake) x nights / 60
This is a self-tracking aid, not a diagnostic tool. Persistent insomnia can indicate an underlying medical or psychiatric condition — consult a healthcare professional rather than relying on a score.
Clinically, when difficulty falling or staying asleep occurs at least three nights a week for three months and impairs daytime functioning. Occasional bad nights are normal.
The total time spent awake between first falling asleep and finally getting up. Above about thirty minutes a night it is considered clinically significant.
Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia is the first-line treatment and outperforms medication over the long term. Consistent wake times and getting out of bed when awake are core components.