Do I have insomnia? Take the test

“Do I have insomnia?” is the question often asked after a few nights of sleeplessness.  Is your bad sleep just an isolated episode related to external factors or is it the part of a more persistent problem and how can you tell the difference? The following test will help you determine whether you have insomnia or not. Insomnia affects 1/3 of the population, with 10 % suffering from chronic insomnia. The impact of insomnia is felt not only in the day-to-day life of millions of people but also economically with insomnia costing the US government $63 billion in lost work. 

About the insomnia test

This test is a variation on the ISI or Insomnia Severity Index, an assessment tool designed to determine the severity of someone’s insomnia. It was created by Charles M. Morin, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology at the Laval University in Quebec City, Canada who is one of the most influential and recognized sleep scientists in the world. This test is widely used in both clinical and observational studies as a way to screen and assess insomnia and answer this crucial question: “Do I have insomnia?”

Do I have insomnia? Take the test

It’s simple, you just have to rate the following criteria from 0 to 4. It is important to take into consideration the most recent data (i.e your insomnia for the last two weeks).

About the quality of your sleep

1. How difficult do you find falling asleep?

0. Not difficult at all          1. Not really difficult          2. Moderately  difficult         3. Difficult         4. Very difficult

2. How difficult do you find staying asleep? Do you wake up often during the night?

0. Not difficult at all          1. Not really difficult          2. Moderately  difficult         3. Difficult         4. Very difficult

3. How difficult do you find waking up in the morning?

0. Not difficult at all          1. Not really difficult          2. Moderately  difficult         3. Difficult         4. Very difficult

About the impact of insomnia on your life

4. How satisfied/ dissatisfied are you with your current (the past two weeks) sleep pattern?

0. Very Satisfied        1. Satisfied        2. Moderately satisfied          3. Dissatisfied          4. Very Dissatisfied

5. To what extent is your current sleep problem noticeable to others and impacting your quality of life?

0. Not at all noticeable           1. A little            2. Somewhat                3. Much              4. Very much noticeable

6. How worried/distressed are you about your current sleep problem?

0. Not at all worried             1. A Little            2. Somewhat                3. Much               4. Very much worried

7. How much is your current sleep problem interfering with their daily life (fatigue, mood, concentration, memory, etc…)?

0. Not at all interfering          1. A Little          2. Somewhat                3. Much             4. Very much 

Add up your answers and the total (between 0 and 28) determines how severe your insomnia is:

• 0-7: Absence of insomnia
• 8-14: Sub-threshold insomnia
• 15-21: Clinical insomnia (moderate)
• 22-28: Clinical insomnia (severe)

If you score between 0 and 7, then you don’t need to worry. You have a very strong sleep structure, most likely with good sleep hygiene. Keep going!

If you score between 8 and 14 then you are still under the threshold and you cannot be considered as insomniac. However, your sleep can be affected by your daily life, stress, etc. It may be worth looking into to ways to handle these issues before they affect your sleep more severely. 

If you score between 15 and 28, you present the symptoms of clinic insomnia (moderate or severe). It’s time to take action, insomnia is not a life sentence, sleeping pills are far from the most effective treatment and therapy has proven to be effective. For example, you can try  Cognitive and Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the treatment recommended by the scientific and medical community.

Do I have insomnia? For a more in depth look

The ISI, Insomnia Severity Index is a self-assessment tool, so the answers are subjective. Nonetheless, it has been proven to be reliable and effective. That’s why it is widely used as an assessment tool. The ISI can represent the  first step in someone’s journey to finding help to resolve their insomnia, or a check-in to later check the efficacy of the measures they take.

Obviously for a more precise idea of severity of someone’s insomnia or their progress as they try to resolve it, their ISI needs to be completed with more information, like objective sleep data. Among other things,  Dreem 2 measures sleep with a precision comparable to that of a polysomnograph, providing a clear, detailed view of the state of your sleep night after night.

Up next: Insomnia treatments and solutions: Top 8