You might think you have a circadian rhythm disorder. But this is very likely not the case… Circadian rhythm disorders are, basically, problems with the timings of sleep. We don’t necessarily see broken sleep on these people, we see that they sleep a full night but on a different time of day. If, for example,…
No, insomnia is not a phobia of sleep. Although unfortunately when sleep starts to become poor it’s quite common for people to fear going to bed because they are worried about what happens to them at night sleep problems like insomnia are usually a habitual problem So they are effectively a different pattern. Your brain…
As a sleep specialist in the NHS I often get presented with lots of different types of supposed sleep cures that can fix insomnia. But do these work? The reality is that they don’t work. The reason is that insomnia is a pattern of behaviour that happens over time. No amount of things that we…
As a sleep expert what do I see is the worst thing for insomnia? I think the worst thing is when we lie in bed willing ourselves to sleep, and frustrated with ourselves when we can’t. It doesn’t work… You will never be able to will yourself to sleep, but what you are doing is…
One of the keys to fixing a sleep problem is timing. This is often overlooked and we talk more about the duration and quality of sleep. Actually, ‘when’ we sleep is incredibly important, if not more important. I’m a sleep clinician. And earlier in my career I worked for Harvard sleep labs. There we did…
People often ask how I started in sleep medicine. And it’s quite an interesting journey… I knew I wanted to go into neurology and psychology, and whilst I was doing one of my degrees I got this amazing experience to go to Harvard Medical School. We had a sleep lab there and carried out studies…
Different types of sleep cures for insomnia is a thing I get present often as an NHS sleep clinician. And the reality is that they don’t work. Insomnia is a pattern of behaviour that happens over time. No amount of things that we do, like lotions or techniques from the internet, are going to suddenly…
As a sleep expert what do I see is the worst thing for insomnia? I think the worst thing is when we lie in bed willing ourselves to sleep, and frustrated with ourselves when we can’t. It doesn’t work. You will never be able to will yourself to sleep… What you are doing is increasing…
As a sleep specialist I often get referrals from neurologists such as Dr Guy Leschziner, a sleep medicine neurologist, with people who have been prescribed sleeping medications. Sleeping medications can actually be quite helpful in the short term. They can help alleviate some of the symptoms of insomnia such as anxiety… But at the end…
What causes chronic insomnia? Well in clinic as a sleep clinician I often get told, “my sleep problem has been caused by menopause”, or by high stress at work, or an illness, or a life event. It doesn’t really matter – there are many things that could cause you to have asleep problem, but the problem…