Charlie Sawyer
Published November 26, 2025 4:00am
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‘It doesn’t go down well if you tell people that you don’t like sleeping’ (Picture: Metro/ Hannah Townsend)
You’re not the only person who can’t get to sleep.
Hannah Townsend has suffered with insomnia her entire life. From not sleeping well as a baby to constantly running on empty in her 30s, it’s been a painful everyday reality.
Recently, the presenter and TikTok creator spoke about her experience online – sharing with her audience the very real physical and mental impact insomnia has on her life. And it’s safe to say that it resonated a lot with the public.
One in three people in the UK suffer with insomnia – but while this should mean we understand and empathise with people who struggle to sleep, it’s often trivialised.
Psychologist and sleep adviser, Dr. Ritz Birah, has a number of clients who describe ‘living on a constant edge of tiredness: starting the morning already depleted, and ending the day wired but exhausted.’
Sharing insight into her own personal struggles, Hannah sat down with Metro to discuss exactly what it’s like to live an entire day as an insomniac.
Insomnia explained
According to the NHS, you might have insomnia if you regularly experience the following symptoms:
- You find it hard to go to sleep
- You wake up several times during the night
- You lie awake at night
- You wake up early and cannot go back to sleep
- You still feel tired after waking up
- You find it hard to nap during the day even though you’re tired
- You feel tired and irritable during the day
- You find it difficult to concentrate during the day because you’re tired
Insomnia can sometimes present in short bursts – during extreme periods of stress or anxiety. However, insomnia that lasts 3 months or longer is officially classified as long-term insomnia.
A day in the life of an insomniac
The night before Hannah and I spoke, she managed to get some sleep at around 4am.
Starting work around 9am, she describes her mornings as a ‘fog.’ ‘I’m trying to rally with very little sleep and honestly I just feely very cloudy,’ she explains.
Physically, it’s in the morning when she most clearly can see how her lack of sleep has affected her. ‘When I go through these periods I look really really bad, I look extremely tired – which is actually feedback I get all the time…’
For insomniacs, ‘the morning brings heaviness rather than renewal,’ Dr Ritz notes.
Often referred to as a ‘sleep hangover,’ insomniacs tend to produce more cortisol (the body’s main stress hormone) in the morning, as their nervous system tries to compensate for inadequate rest.
Hannah has grown an impressive following across TikTok and IG (Picture: Hannah Townsend)
As the afternoon rolls around, Hannah feels restless, explaining that she’s noticed recently how her insomniac-related anxiety has began to start plaguing her earlier in the day.
From about midday onwards, she starts spiralling about the prospect of not being able to fall asleep that night. Painfully, the fear of not sleeping often becomes the very thing that prevents rest.
To try and combat this, the TikTok creator has adopted a pretty intense mindset: ‘If I do as much as I physically can during the day to exhaust myself – and I’m already exhausted as I’ve not slept the night before – like go to the gym or go out in the evening, I’m hoping that when my head hits the pillow I will be so tired that I will just sleep,’ she explains.
A fellow insomniac, who watched one of Hannah’s TikTok videos, shared this sentiment, commenting: ‘Lifelong insomniac since childhood here as well. Once you get to the point of having anxiety about going to sleep, it’s really difficult to overcome.’
She’s hoped that sharing her experience online might help others (Picture: Hannah Townsend)
As the evening starts to wind down, Hannah’s thoughts are still racing, sharing that even if she’s exhausted when she gets into bed, her mind is totally ‘alive.’
It’s painfully clear that there’s a strong connection between the mental and physical affects of insomnia. ‘Sleeplessness isn’t only a biological issue but also a reflection of unprocessed emotion or persistent mental load – the mind staying awake to what hasn’t yet been felt,’ Dr Ritz explains.
Hannah also mentions how she’s never been someone who’s struggled with masses of anxiety outside of her insomnia – a common misconception some people have.
‘I do things like make videos, I present – I don’t have anxiety about those things. I love meeting people and I’m very social. I’m not a socially anxious or super anxious person in general. it is just this one very specific area I feel anxiety around.’
Despite desperate attempts to shut off her brain – including listening to episodes of the Get Sleepy podcast which paint highly descriptive pictures of fantasy scenarios such as ‘A Dreamy Search for Big Foot,’ – Hannah is only able to drift off for an hour or two.
And so, the cycle repeats itself.
The anti-sleep stigma
‘It doesn’t go down well if you tell people that you don’t like sleeping,’ Hannah explains.
‘People love to sleep, people love to nap – and it’s something that I am so stressed by. I mean, of course I love to sleep well – but I don’t, so I can’t relate to someone who’s obsessed with sleep.’
And she’s right. Sleep is marketed to the public as the magic remedy to – well, everything. Got a cold? Have a nap. Feeling anxious? Make sure you get your eight hours.
So, being anti-sleep is not exactly a relatable opinion – and it can lead to insomniacs feeling isolated and unheard.
Kathryn Pinkham, insomnia expert and founder of The Insomnia Clinic, strongly believes insomnia isn’t taken seriously enough in the UK, noting how in society it’s often classed as ‘just a bad night’s sleep.’
‘In reality it’s a serious condition with real mental and physical health consequences. Research and medical attention are growing, but compared to other health issues, sleep still doesn’t get the priority it deserves,’ she adds.
Insomnia has the power to ‘totally demolish lives’ (Picture: Hannah Townsend)
Dr Zoe Gotts, a clinical psychologist specialising in sleep medicine at The London Sleep Centre, mirrors this line of thinking, stating that ‘if someone was living with chronic pain, we wouldn’t tell them to just ‘relax’ or ‘stop worrying.’ Yet people with insomnia hear that sort of advice all the time, and it can add shame and frustration, which only makes the cycle harder to break.’
Dr Gotts also wonders if part of the reason insomnia is not taken seriously enough is because the UK has a ‘cultural tendency to push through tiredness.’
But this ‘tiredness’ has the ability to totally demolish lives. Another specialist Metro spoke with, Dr Allie Hare, a consultant in sleep medicine and the President of the British Sleep Society, has treated patients with insomnia who’ve seen their marriages break down, lost their jobs, or completely stopped going out because of this condition.
What are the long term effects of insomnia?
Some of the more immediate physical symptoms insomniacs may notice are things such as muscle tension, eye strain and sensitivity to pain.
And while these may sound relatively straightforward, symptoms like these can have a big impact.
According to Dr Hare, ‘insomnia is associated with an increased risk of workplace-related errors and accidents leading to injuries and disability.’
It’s also associated with ‘a 45% increased risk of developing and/or dying from cardiovascular disease, an increased risk of hypertension; diabetes; heart failure and an increased risk of metabolic syndrome’.
Other studies have also shown that prolonged sleep issues can lead to neurological disorders such as ‘parasomnias and sleep-related psychiatric disorders.’
Insomnia is ‘highly treatable’ – it can get better
Dr Gotts stands by the statement that insomnia is ‘highly treatable,’ it’s just that patients are often not directed towards the right solution.
At The Insomnia Clinic, the staff focus on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for patients – with Kathryn noting that it’s the most ‘effective approach.’
‘It combines education about sleep, behavioural changes, mindset work, and strategies like sleep restriction and stimulus control to reset our body clocks,’ she explains.
The founder has seen just first-hand how treatment can help patients regain control of their life.
‘One patient hadn’t slept more than 2–3 hours a night for months due to tinnitus and then menopause,’ Kathryn says. ‘She followed the steps and the biggest impact for her was learning to stop trying to control her sleep. Small, consistent changes gradually helped her get to a consistent 6-hour sleep window, which helped her improve her mood. Before the treatment, she was feeling very low and anxious. Seeing someone regain control of their sleep, and with it, their life, is why I love what I do!’
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However, for those who haven’t got down the treatment programme route, like Hannah, it’s still an uphill battle. Having tried all kinds of medication to try and combat her insomnia, the presenter is still looking for the thing that might help.
In the meantime, she’s just pleased that her video made an impact.
‘I’ve never had a response like with the insomnia video – I get up to 30 direct messages a day alongside thousands of comments from people who’ve gone through similar things,’ Hannah says.
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‘I’m trying not to be cliché, but it will get better – I’ve found that. You’re not the only person who can’t sleep.’
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