Clinical psychologist Steve Orma first experienced insomnia in his early 40s — struggling to fall asleep and stay asleep.
He found himself obsessing over it. “I slipped into the mindset so many people do. I kept asking myself, ‘Why can’t I sleep? Is something wrong with me?’” he recalls.
That constant worry about not sleeping is known as sleep anxiety, explains Orma, who later specialized in treating insomnia. Left unchecked, this anxiety can actually make it harder to drift off.
“The more you fixate on sleep, the less likely it is to happen — and that frustration only fuels more anxiety. It’s a vicious cycle,” he says.
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