Celebrities Who Struggle With Sleep and Insomnia (2024)

A-list status does not come without its (sleep) problems.

Insomnia is one of those universal equalizers that can affect everyone and anyone. Insomnia has a simple definition: It means having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. It can be a temporary, short-term problem caused by stress or a traumatic experience. Or insomnia can become persistent or chronic, meaning that you have trouble sleeping at least three nights a week in a three-month period, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Factors that can contribute to insomnia are ones that we all might face at some point in our lives: depression, anxiety, going through an emotionally upsetting event such as divorce or the death of a spouse, or having certain medical conditions (such as those that cause chronic pain, like arthritis, or those that cause breathing problems, like asthma). Menopause and hot flashes, or gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn, are other conditions that can contribute to insomnia, according to the National Institutes of Health. And traveling frequently across different time zones can wreak havoc on sleep, too.

If you have problems with sleep, it’s important that you get help as soon as possible. Unaddressed sleep problems tend to get worse and get tougher to treat the more habitual they become.

In the meantime, know that there are a lot of people out there struggling with sleep just like you, including these celebrities who have helped raise awareness about how debilitating not sleeping can be, and why it’s so important to get help.

317

George Clooney

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2012, the actor, director, and producer George Clooney revealed that he routinely has a “tough time getting to sleep,” and that he woke up as many as five times per night. In another interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2017, which was published three months after the birth of his twins, Clooney shared that he had resolved his earlier issue with insomnia, but that it had been replaced by another source of sleep deprivation: being a parent of newborns.

As any parent of young children knows all too well, duties like multiple feedings and diaper changes in the night can do a number on a night’s sleep, and with twins, Clooney and his wife, Amal Clooney, were no doubt getting far short of the rest they needed, according to what he told The Hollywood Reporter.

318

Mariah Carey

The singer-songwriter Mariah Carey has talked about her search for sleep for many years. In a November 16, 2002, interview with The Guardian, Carey discussed having a recent breakdown caused, she said, by working too much.

“'The bottom line is that I was severely exhausted,” Carey said. “I've always had trouble with insomnia. It's more falling asleep than staying asleep, especially when I've been performing or doing interviews — there's a certain amount of adrenalinethat goes along with that — and when I'd finally unwind and go to sleep I'd be woken in another couple of hours to speak to someone in Australia, and then they'd say ‘Oh, there are just a couple more reporters and they're going to ride with you in the car,’ and there was no downtime.”

In 2018, Carey revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2001, which was likely the root cause of her earlier sleep problems. In an interview with People in 2018, she noted that she was getting treatment that doesn’t make her feel tired or sluggish anymore, and that she is “in a really good place.”

319

Chuck Palahniuk

In an article he wrote for The Guardian, the author Chuck Palahniuk shared his theory about insomnia being a sort of muse for creative people like himself. Palahniuk, well-known for his novel Fight Club, about a protagonist who suffers from insomnia because of job stress and frequent travel for work, suggests that writers are inspired by things that are related to shock or suffering. “Fasting works. Rejection, too. Insomnia works wonderfully,” Palahniuk wrote.

According to Palahniuk, Fight Club was inspired by his own insomnia. “In 1993, I found myself stranded in Reno, Nevada, with no money and nowhere to stay,” Palahniuk wrote. “At night I wandered sleepless through the empty all-night casinos and restaurants, exhausted, delirious, and inventing a story about a man who thought he had insomnia but was actually living a double life: whenever he thought he was asleep, his alter ego would venture forth to have all the adventures he, himself, could never consciously dare.”

Palahniuk recognized, though, that the insomnia lifestyle is not a healthy one. “To be honest, Ambien helps me sleep more nights than I care to admit — although I’m uncertain about the quality of that sleep,” he wrote.

320

Renée Zellweger

Jet-setting to different parts of the world for filming and premieres may sound glamorous. But the constant travel that comes with making and then promoting a film (constantly shifting time zones and sleeping in unfamiliar places) in reality can be a recipe for insomnia. In 2005, the actress Renée Zellweger shared with W magazine that because of her busy schedule, she often didn’t have time for sleep.

Recalling a 10-day promotional tour for Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason that had her traveling to 10 countries, Zellweger told W, “Your body doesn’t quite register that you’re supposed to eat at a certain time, or that it’s time to sleep.”

321

Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay has written short stories, criticism, essays, and more, including the 2014 collection of essays Bad Feminism, and her 2017 memoir, Hunger. Across multiple pieces, Gay has written about her struggle with insomnia. In a 2014 interview with Specter Magazine, she said, “I suffer from insomnia.”

In an August 2019 interview withMedium’s Elemental, she added that she is a “night owl” and gets most of her work done from about 7 or 8 p.m. until 2 a.m. “I try to go to bed before midnight, but that rarely happens.”

322

Kim Cattrall

Kim Cattrall has spoken publicly about her battles with insomnia, which has affected her ability to work. In 2015, the actress pulled out of a play she was scheduled to perform in at London’s Royal Court Theatre. The reason, she later disclosed, was insomnia, the BBC reported in 2016.

In an interview with BBC Radio, also in 2016, Cattrall described her insomnia as “like being pinned down by a three-ton gorilla.” She also shared part of her diary entry from her stay in London in which she wrote, “I think I’m losing the ability to think clearly. Words are harder to remember without sleep. I can’t grasp, hold on, to ideas, thoughts, even tasks. They’re slipping away from me since I got here and I can’t sleep. … Without sleep, there is no way to wash away the debris that collects throughout any given day, no way to clear and cleanse the thoughts that bracket morning through night.”

323

Jennifer Aniston

In a 2016 interview with HuffPost, the actress Jennifer Aniston spoke about her struggles with insomnia and what habits have helped improve her sleep. Aniston described her insomnia experience as being like having a “committee in my head,” she noted. “If I wake up at 3 in the morning, I just start having conversations and they won’t shut up and then I can’t get back to sleep.”

“I think it started somewhere in my thirties or even earlier, but you just don’t start to notice the effects of a lack of sleep when we’re younger because we’re so invincible,” she added to People in 2022. "It began as something that I would just accept and then all of a sudden you realize the effects of your lack of sleep and how it affects your day and your work and your mind function and your physique."

One thing that further fueled her insomnia? Watching the clock, "a big no-no," because then she started obsessing about the time that was passing by. "And the more I worry about it, the harder it is to fall asleep," she said.

Aniston told HuffPost some things that have helped her with insomnia include sleeping with the phone at least five feet away, doing a quick meditation before getting into bed, and doing some stretches and yoga poses. She also recommends turning off electronic devices an hour before turning off the lights.

324

Pete Wentz

The Fall Out Boy musician Pete Wentz opened up to Rolling Stone in April 2013 about how his sleep issues led to his abuse of Xanax and Klonopin. "I was probably physically and mentally addicted," he said. "It started from insomnia and anxiety from flying, then it spiraled."

Eventually he became paranoid. "I was scared of everything. I thought there were always people listening to me," he confessed. "Like, I had my house searched for bugs. It was crazy."

Since then Wentz has opened up about dealing with bipolar disorder in a 2015 interview with HuffPost. He takes care of himself, he explained, by exercising, meditating, talking things through, and having a schedule with his family.

325

Christina Applegate

Christina Applegate has been outspoken about her insomnia, and has worked to help others who are struggling to sleep. In 2017 she told Self magazine that she had struggled with insomnia for 20 years. “I could sleep a couple hours and then be up for four hours and then fall asleep again right before my alarm goes off,” she said.

She says learning more about insomnia, and which daytime and nighttime routines can contribute to it, has helped her make changes that have helped her sleep. "I didn’t even realize that the contributing factors to my insomnia were simple things that I could start to change," she told Self. Some things that have helped include: a five-minute bedtime meditation and staying off her phone before sleep (and if she wakes up during the night).

326

Rihanna

Singer and actor Rihanna has discussed her sleeping troubles in multiple interviews. In the December 2017 issue of Vogue Paris the singer revealed that her racing mind is the culprit. "I have a lot of trouble switching off," she said.

"Even when I get home early, which means before 1 a.m., I start binge-watching shows or documentaries, which I love. I can’t go straight to bed. As a matter of fact, I only sleep three or four hours a night."

327

Jennifer Lopez

Singer and actor Jennifer Lopez is regularly praised for being one of the hardest working celebrities in Hollywood. However, in a 2022 edition of her newsletter, On the JLo, she revealed how her nonstop lifestyle led to serious health issues, Vanity Fair reported in July.

“There was a time in my life where I used to sleep three to five hours a night. I'd be on set all day and in the studio all night and doing junkets and filming videos on the weekends," she wrote. "I was in my late twenties, and I thought I was invincible.”

One day while spending time in her trailer on the set, the lack of sleep caught up with her. She "went from feeling totally normal to thinking about what I needed to do that day — and all of a sudden I felt as if I couldn't move," she continued.

"I was completely frozen," she said. She noted that it affected her vision and walking. She feared she was going insane, but maintains it was a “classic panic attack brought on by exhaustion.” She went to the doctor, and she asked him if she was going crazy.

“He said, 'No, you're not crazy. You need sleep.'" He explained that she was suffering from severe exhaustion and needed to sleep for seven hours or more. "I realized how serious the consequences could be of ignoring what my body and mind needed to be healthy — and that's where my journey to wellness began," she said.

With additional reporting by Leah Groth.