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‘i’ve never had that luxury’: for people with insomnia, sleep is never simple
after decades of sleepless nights, kat kerr finally found a diagnosis — but not without struggle
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kat kerr, 26, said that after years of struggling to be heard, she was diagnosed with insomnia at 22.
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it’s something that you hear your whole life: to function properly, the body needs at least eight hours of sleep per night.
but for somebody with insomnia – a common sleep disorder that makes it difficult for them to fall or stay asleep – getting those eight hours is far-fetched.
take 26-year-old kat kerr from st. john’s, for example. kerr said that she has struggled to sleep for as long as she can remember, and on a good night, the most shut-eye she gets is four-and-a-half hours.
“i’ve never had that luxury (sleeping eight hours), unfortunately,” said kerr. “not even once.”
she was just surviving
insomnia doesn’t look the same for everyone who suffers from it. for kerr, she described what she experienced as her body being exhausted, but her mind being restless. she said those two parts of her have never correlated.
kerr said that insomnia has impacted her whole life, growing up and even in school.
“i was the little girl who wasn’t able to focus in school. i used to think i was stupid,” said kerr.
she said that when she looks back, she realizes how much her lack of sleep played a factor in her grades and making friends.
but growing up, she felt frustrated and isolated because she didn’t realize her experience wasn’t “normal.”
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“i was sort of just surviving for a while, but it wasn’t easy at all,” said kerr.
‘felt unheard by the system’
kerr said that growing up, she did a good job at putting on a front as if everything was fine and that no one around her, even her parents, could peg her as an insomniac.
however, as she aged, she noticed her symptoms more clearly and by 19 began connecting the dots and discussing it with her family doctor.
kerr wouldn’t be formally diagnosed with insomnia until she was 22. she said that along the way, she ran into trouble with not feeling listened to in the health-care system.
this experience isn’t unique to kerr, as the mood order society of canada recently published a survey showing a critical gap in awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of insomnia among canadians.
“i feel like they didn’t take me as seriously, which was frustrating. but i had to be my own advocate,” said kerr.
‘didn’t listen to what else was going on’
at 19, after seeking therapy, kerr was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd). she found out that her insomnia was a symptom of her ptsd.
with this connection between insomnia ptsd uncovered, kerr still needed to get her sleeping in order. it was the time between the ptsd and insomnia diagnosis where kerr didn’t feel heard.
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kerr said that she felt some providers were too quick to try and prescribe medication without addressing underlying causes.
“they weren’t really ready to listen to what else was going on,” said kerr.
still looking for what works
kerr was adopted, and a big factor for her in not wanting to take sleeping medication has to do with her biological family having a history of addiction. she has opted to treat both of her conditions through therapy.
though she managed to get an insomnia diagnosis, kerr said she is still navigating what works for her. she added that her sleep has gotten better since her diagnosis, but most of what she has found to work has been through her own self-discovery.
“it’s not linear,” said kerr. “there’s still like weeks when i go without sleep, and then there’s weeks when i can sleep.”
kerr said what has worked best for her has been self-calming routines before bed, such as hot baths, tea and relaxation.
‘it’s a lack of education,’ says insomnia researcher
dr. sheila garland is the head of memorial university’s sleep health and wellness lab and insomnia clinic. garland has been researching insomnia since 2005.
according to garland, insomnia impacts about 15 per cent of the general population and says that the diagnosis criteria include difficulty falling or staying asleep or waking too early, happening at least three times per week for three months or longer.
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garland said that, in general, sleep disorders get little attention in medical and psychology training — it’s about seven hours total in many programs.
the lack of education, she said, leads to underdiagnosis and mismanagement.
in newfoundland and labrador, however, she said this goes a step further due to the lack of trained psychologists to deliver cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (cbt-i). garland said that cbt-i is the first-line recommended treatment, per national and provincial guidelines.
“there is a huge lack of service providers in the province. we still have a shortage of psychologists in the province,” said garland.
‘doctors don’t know how to get them help’
garland added that when dealing with insomnia in conjunction with other mental illnesses, such as ptsd, general therapy doesn’t treat insomnia unless it’s specifically tailored, like cbt-i.
treating one without the other doesn’t work, she said, that both must be addressed consecutively or in tandem.
when it comes to sleeping medication, garland said that it only masks the problem, it does not treat the underlying causes. once medication stops, insomnia typically returns, she added.
“when physicians are met with a lot of distress and they don’t have something better than sleeping medications to offer, it’s frustrating, i think, as much for them as it is for the patients,” said garland.
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“because the patients that are wanting help, and the physicians are saying, i don’t know how to get you the help that you need.”
offering solutions of her own
garland believes systemic change is needed and wants to see greater public education about effective insomnia treatments, and expanding access to psychological care through insurance coverage and workforce growth.
to help bridge gaps, she co-designed a cbt-i mobile app, offering evidence-based therapy in a more accessible way.
“there are other ways to access cbt-i through self-help books, other apps and group therapies,” said garland.
this article was originally published in the st. john’s telegram on november 14, 2025.
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