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Do I Have Insomnia? A Free 4-Question Test

Four questions, about thirty seconds. They are the four things sleep clinicians actually ask to decide whether disturbed sleep meets the definition of insomnia.

Free · no signup30 seconds · 4 questionsReviewed by Robert Stevens, MD

Are you experiencing insomnia?

Please answer based on your last two weeks of sleep.

Four insomnia screening questions
Do you have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep for 3 or more nights a week?
Are you unhappy with your current sleep pattern?
Do your sleep problems interfere with your day-to-day life?
Are you concerned about your current sleep problems?
0 of 4 answered

No email required. Your answers stay in your browser.

The short answer

  • Insomnia is defined by four characteristics together: trouble sleeping at least three nights a week, dissatisfaction with your sleep, daytime consequences, and distress about it.
  • One bad night — or one bad week — is not insomnia. Three nights a week for three months or more is what clinicians call chronic insomnia.
  • A short test like this screens; it does not diagnose. It cannot rule out sleep apnea, restless legs, or a circadian rhythm problem.
  • If your answers fit the pattern, CBT-I is the first-line treatment recommended ahead of sleeping pills by the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

What these four questions actually measure

They are not arbitrary. Each one maps to a criterion clinicians use to decide whether disturbed sleep counts as an insomnia disorder rather than a rough patch.1

Question 1

The symptom, and how often

Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking too early — on at least three nights a week. Frequency is what separates a bad spell from a disorder.

Question 2

Dissatisfaction

Insomnia is defined partly by how you feel about your sleep. Some people sleep six hours and are fine; the complaint is part of the condition.

Question 3

Daytime consequence

The part people skip. If you sleep poorly but function fine, that is usually not insomnia. Fatigue, poor concentration, and irritability are the other half of the diagnosis.

Question 4

Distress

Dreading bedtime, watching the clock, doing the arithmetic on how many hours are left. This is also what keeps the cycle running.

The question this test doesn't ask: how long

Four questions cannot capture everything, and the biggest factor missing is duration. It matters more than almost anything else, because it changes the treatment.

Under three months is acute insomnia. It usually has a cause you can name — a deadline, a new baby, a bereavement, a move — and it usually resolves when that cause does.

Three months or more is chronic insomnia. By then it has generally outlived whatever started it. The habits built during the bad weeks — going to bed early to catch up, lying awake waiting, dreading the bedroom — are keeping it going on their own. That is why waiting it out stops working, and why chronic insomnia needs treating directly.2

If your answers above fit the pattern and this has been going on for three months or more, that is the situation CBT-I was designed for.

What this test cannot rule out

Several conditions look like insomnia and need different treatment. A screening test cannot tell them apart, and treating them as insomnia will not work.

Worth raising with a doctor rather than self-treating:

  • Loud snoring, gasping, or someone telling you that you stop breathing — possible sleep apnea.
  • An irresistible urge to move your legs at night — possible restless legs syndrome.
  • You sleep fine, just on a very different schedule — possibly a circadian rhythm disorder rather than insomnia.
  • Issues started with a new medication — many drugs disrupt sleep, including some antidepressants.
  • You do not have the opportunity to sleep — shift work, a newborn, caregiving. That is sleep deprivation, which is a different problem.

None of these mean you do not also have insomnia. They mean a clinician should look at it properly.

Common questions

Is a 4-question test accurate?
As a screen, it is reasonable — these four criteria are the ones used to define insomnia disorder, so a clear pattern is meaningful. But it is a screen, not a diagnosis. It has no measure of severity, no duration question, and it cannot detect other sleep disorders. A longer assessment measures severity; a clinician confirms what it is.
Is it really free? Do I have to give my email?
It is free, and no, you don’t have to give your email. Your result appears as soon as you answer the fourth question. Your answers are not sent anywhere unless you choose to continue to the longer assessment.
What is the difference between this and the longer test?
This test tells you whether your sleep problem fits the definition of insomnia. The longer assessment scores severity on the 0–28 scale that sleep clinics use, asks about duration and daytime impact in more detail, and produces a result specific enough to build a treatment plan.
I only answered yes to one question. Do I have insomnia?
Probably not an insomnia disorder, no. The criteria work together: sleep difficulty has to be frequent, and it has to cause daytime problems or genuine distress. A single yes — being dissatisfied with your sleep, say, while functioning fine — is common and is not by itself a disorder. However, it can still be worth improving.
How is insomnia officially diagnosed?
A clinician diagnoses it using criteria that combine sleep difficulty, frequency, duration, daytime consequences, and the absence of a better explanation. They will usually also ask about your sleep schedule, medications, caffeine and alcohol, and may ask you to keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks.
Can I have insomnia and still sleep seven hours?
Yes. Insomnia is not defined by a number of hours. Some people sleep seven hours of light, fragmented sleep but feel wrecked; others sleep six and feel fine. What matters is the difficulty, the daytime consequence, and the distress.
What should I do if the result says I likely have insomnia?
If it has been going on three months or more, look at CBT-I — it is recommended instead of sleeping pills by both the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.4 If you have any of the red flags listed above, or if you are on a medication that might be causing it, start by seeing your doctor.

Read next

Whatever your result, these are the three things most people want to understand next.

Why it persists

Why it's hard to break the insomnia cycle

The loop that keeps insomnia going after its cause is gone.

Treatment

CBT-I: the first-line treatment

What the eight weeks actually involve, and the evidence.

Medication

When your medication is keeping you awake

SSRIs, sleep, and what to do when it doesn't pass.

References

  1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR): insomnia disorder criteria.
  2. Spielman AJ, Caruso LS, Glovinsky PB. A behavioral perspective on insomnia treatment. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 1987 — the 3P model.
  3. Qaseem A et al. Management of Chronic Insomnia Disorder in Adults: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2016.
  4. Edinger JD et al. Behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. J Clin Sleep Med. 2021.

Medically reviewed by Robert Stevens, MD. Reviewed 10 November 2026, and at least every 12 months thereafter. This test is an educational screening tool. It is not a diagnosis and not a substitute for advice from a clinician who knows your history. Do not start, stop or change any prescribed medication based on your result.