Why Sleep Hygiene Is Not Enough.

Published: 2025-10-14
Estimated read time: 3 minutes

“I’ve tried everything: cutting caffeine, no screens, blackout curtains… but I still can’t sleep.”

If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. Many people with chronic insomnia have already Googled every sleep tip out there. They dim the lights, stop using devices before bed, sip herbal tea, maybe even take melatonin, and still find themselves wide awake at 2am.

This is where sleep hygiene falls short.

What is sleep hygiene, anyway?

Sleep hygiene means setting up healthy habits and a good environment for sleep. Some of the most common recommendations include:

• Avoid caffeine or alcohol late in the day

• Keep a consistent wake-up time

• Make your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet

• Limit screen use before bed

• Wind down before sleep

These are all smart practices, and important for maintaining sleep health. But they are preventive, not curative. They help keep sleep on track, but once insomnia sets in, they usually are not enough to fix it.

Why sleep hygiene does not treat chronic insomnia

Chronic insomnia is not just about poor habits; it is about a learned pattern between your brain, your body, and the bed. Over time, your mind becomes conditioned to associate being in bed with frustration, alertness, or even fear.

So even if your room is dark and you had no caffeine… your brain might still be in “wake mode” the moment your head hits the pillow.

To break this cycle, you need more than clean habits; you need to retrain the brain.

What actually works? CBT-I.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) goes beyond surface-level sleep tips. It helps you:

• Rebuild your sleep drive through structured scheduling

• Reconnect the bed with sleep, not stress

• Learn how to manage racing thoughts and nighttime anxiety

• Understand your unique sleep pattern, and how to shift it

Unlike sleep hygiene, CBT-I is a treatment, not a lifestyle tweak. It is backed by decades of research and works in about 70–80% of people with chronic insomnia, often without medication.

Sleep hygiene is still useful but not the whole answer

Think of sleep hygiene like brushing your teeth. It is good maintenance, but if you have a cavity, you need to see a dentist.

Similarly, if you have had months (or years) of poor sleep, there is nothing wrong with you. You just need the right treatment.

At Luna Health, we offer virtual CBT-I to help you move beyond the basics, and get back to truly restorative sleep.