"I have chronic insomnia"

Dear Uninspired,

I'm sorry to read that your experience here didn't appear to help with your insomnia, and I would encourage you to contact the service and discuss any unmet expectations about your treatment with the clinical lead.

Insomnia can be a tricky issue to deal with in an IAPT service; in the majority of cases, the type of insomnia that we work with comes as a symptom of common mental health difficulties like depression and anxiety. Of course, insomnia can also be a problem in and of itself, and this would usually need to be investigated to rule out any underlying medical issues as this type of insomnia isn't something we are usually able to treat.

Many people read about treatments for insomnia, usually online, that can involve anything from hypnosis to electrical stimulation therapy and sometimes there is an expectation that this type of treatment should be available or used in services like ours. However, as an NHS service, we have robust guidelines outlining the type of treatment that has a strong evidence base, and it is this evidence-based treatment that we use to try and help people overcome their issues.

When you have a distressing problem, feeling that you aren't being listened to is never helpful and we do strive to ensure that our patients feel that their problems have been heard. It sounds as though this isn't the case here, and I would invite you to contact me to discuss what type of help you feel you need so we can come to a better understanding of how we might be able to help you. I can't guarantee we can solve your difficulty, but I will listen and try to understand exactly what the difficulties are. I can be contacted on 01375 898680 and would gladly discuss this with you.

Best wishes,

Mark Frost (Clinical Lead, Inclusion Thurrock IAPT).