Havant father-of-three writes book after struggling with rare form of insomnia since he was a child

Paul Linsell, from Havant, has tried different remedies recommended by doctors, sleep experts and in self-help books after suffering from sleep maintenance insomnia - a condition that stops people from staying asleep once they drift off – since he was a child.

The 44-year-old computer programmer said: ‘I don’t know why it ever started, my parents just said I always struggled to stay asleep at night after I went to bed.

‘You feel tired all the time and it impacts on every aspect of your life.’

He found that a lot of sleep books focused on traditional insomnia, rather than the rarer condition from which he was suffering.

He would wake up at around 1am every night and would be unable to drift off until around 5am, before having to wake up to go to work or do the school run, leaving him ready to fall back to sleep at around 9am.

Paul said: ‘All of the books I have read focus on sleeping and the benefits that it can bring your life and when you’re constantly struggling to sleep that can be a bit depressing and disheartening to read because you’re not getting any of those benefits.’

Eventually, Paul switched his focus from sleeping to maintaining energy and began practising mindfulness and gratitude, as well as living a healthier lifestyle through diet and exercise.

To help others, he penned his first book, The Long Road to Sleep: How I Overcame Decades of Sleep Maintenance Insomnia, which covers his experiences with sleep, the remedies that he tried and the effects of these.

Paul added: ‘I wanted to provide practical, step-by-step information that tells people what they can do to help overcome chronic insomnia.

‘My hope is that it can help other people who are suffering from the same thing as me.’

Paul is due to give a talk about his book and his journey with sleep at Queen Alexandra Hospital’s Mental Health Awareness Week event, which has been postponed.

The paperback version of the book is available on Amazon for £6.99.

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