Uncovering the X Factors Behind Insomnia
By wchung | 22 Feb, 2025

For many of us ensuring a night of perfect sleep requires understanding the mysterious workings of our inner life as well as our physical one.

We all know that coffee compromises sleep. Yet some of my best nights of sleep came after binging on coffee. The protein in a meat-heavy dinner is supposed to interfere with sleep. Yet I have enjoyed memorable nights of sleep after big steak dinners. And the conventional wisdom that physical exhaustion promotes sleep doesn’t seem to apply to my body.

There is no generally accepted sleep tip that I haven’t personally violated without enjoying an above-average night of sleep. On far more occasions, though, I have scrupulously followed every possible measure to promote sound sleep only to find myself wide awake after three hours.

Truth is, no known regimen guarantees a good night’s sleep.

Insomnia of varying degrees haunts about half of us, according to surveys. A third of us have clinically diagnosable insomnia (serious sleep impairment for at least a year). Yet insomniacs come to accept inadequate sleep as part of the human condition despite its devastating impact on quality of life.

We know that three cups of coffee and two drinks at happy hour will compromise the sleep we try to squeeze in between a late bedtime and an early wake-up call. But many can’t marshal the willpower to change their habits. In the back of their mind is the thought that one fine day they will get control over their lives and become the well-rested action figure they know is nodding off inside.

Insomniacs like me become knowledgeable about seratonin, melatonin, L-tryptophan, various foods containing high levels of tryptophan and herbal and pharmacological sleep aids. No doubt, like me, they have come to accept that no substance can guarantee a good night’s sleep. Nor can I rely on the strategy of pushing myself to physical and mental exhaustion. For insomniacs with metabolisms like mine that ploy is more likely to lead to a tortured night of tossing and turning than of blissful oblivion.

It doesn’t take long for insomniacs to postulate an X factor that can randomly override every supposed sleep-promoting diet or physical activity.

So is it hopeless? Should we insomniacs just accept nightly torture and daily suffering as our lot and make the best of it?

My own experience tells me that isn’t the worst possible approach. By accepting insomnia as a permanent fixture, you can make certain adjustments to minimize the ravages of lying awake for hours every night and plan your schedule to minimize the dislocations caused by hours of sleeplessness. For the past few years I learned to simply get up and work upon finding myself wide awake in the middle of the night. That usually leads to an hour or so of sleep afterwards, which is sometimes enough for me to function the next day.

But I have clung to the dream of a life in which I can confidently go to bed expecting to sleep well enough to avoid suffering the next day. In the past couple of years I have gained insights that have improved my chances of getting six hours of sleep — which is usually adequate for a reasonably functional day — instead of giving up in frustration after only four and a half. On rare nightrs — which glow warmly in my mind — I have even managed seven or even seven and a half hours, though never in a single unbroken stretch.

Even this modest level of sleep success has required me to achieve several insights into the psychological mechanisms behind sleep and insomnia. Maybe “sleep accommodation” is a more accurate term than success. I have a ways to go before I can comfortably lay claim to “success”, which implies a degree of certitude that the application of my insights will lead to a good night’s sleep. At the moment I am batting about .720, but that is enough of an improvement for me to hope that I am now on a path to a life of nightly sound sleep and days packed with boundless energy.

The first and most important lesson I’ve learned through years of struggling with insomnia is that the quality and duration of sleep is tied as much to intangible emotional factors as to physical ones like diet, exercise and the environment. To be sure, the physical factors matter in sleep, but they are not sufficient. Even when they are ideal sleep can be hijacked by misconfigured hopes and fears.

In future columns I will discuss the effect of karaoke, mountain climbing, Asian food, salsa dancing, high school musicals, vitamin C and more in the quest for a good night’s sleep.