A clinical consultation is normally all that is needed to determine whether a patient has insomnia or not. Your sleep specialist will determine if there is further testing that may be required, but this is often if they expect another medical condition could be at play. Chronic (long term) insomnia is characterised by difficulty getting to sleep, staying asleep or having non-restorative sleep despite having adequate opportunity for sleep, together with associated impairment of daytime functioning, with symptoms being present for at least 3 months.