Everything You Know About Sleep is a Lie
I recently appeared on the BBC Sounds Sleep and Dream podcast for the second time. This time around I was invited back on to discuss all things sleep misinformation.
Now, this is something I’m very passionate about. There are so many mistruths and myths out there around sleep. What’s worse, is that so many of these are designed to build fear and drive you to spend money on ‘quick fixes’, which in truth are far from quick at all.
So, what are the biggest lies out there around sleep?
You need eight hours of sleep – Not true. What really matters is the quality of your sleep, and often trying to get more sleep is the very thing which adds pressure and makes our sleep worse. So, move your focus to improving the quality of your sleep with proven techniques, rather than reaching for a goal based on a number of hours.
You need to give up caffeine and/or alcohol – Another lie. Now, of course, if you drink too much of either, it’s not good for your health or your sleep and drinking a lot of coffee straight before bed isn’t a good idea. However, you can still comfortably enjoy your morning cup without any implications. When it comes to alcohol, you don’t need to cut it out completely, unless you want to; instead, just make sure you are not drinking close to bedtime, as it will affect the quality of your sleep.
You need to go to bed at the same time every night – Also a lie. Now, sticking to some sort of routine around your sleep is good, but not if the routine you have doesn’t work. Make sure the bedtime you have works with your natural circadian rhythm and that your sleep drive is high enough. If your bedtime varies here and there, don’t let it worry you. Just make sure you’re not spending too long ruminating in bed in the morning if you have a late night.
You must sleep well EVERY night to feel good – No. A bad night’s sleep now and again is normal. So, the important thing is to reframe your thinking around sleep. If you have a bad night, don’t automatically think that means a bad day and don’t change up your routine to reflect the night before. Carry on as usual and your next night should be better.
You should track your sleep to check how ‘ready’ you are for the day – In my opinion, sleep trackers only breed anxiety. If you’ve had a bad night, you’ll know it without needing to track it! So, don’t change your whole day based on what your tracker is telling you about your night.
You should be meditating, doing yoga or wearing ear plugs and sleep masks to sleep well – No, no and no. If these things help you feel good, by all means go ahead, but you don’t need any of this in order to sleep well. Remember, our body knows how to sleep, so don’t overcomplicate things.
You should take magnesium – Not necessarily. Now, magnesium is well documented to improve sleep quality, BUT it's also very rare to find something like magnesium could CURE insomnia. This is because magnesium cannot reset your body clock, change your mindset towards sleep or break a pattern of waking and feeling anxious. So, don’t rely on this to make you sleep well.
To conclude, here’s what is actually true…
Quality of sleep is more important than quantity
A short bedtime routine is more than enough
Your body knows how to sleep, it just doesn’t know when or for how long
Sleep isn’t complicated
CBT for insomnia WILL improve your sleep pattern
So, next time you read something about sleep, check the source and take it with a pinch of salt.
