A forty percent higher risk of dementia. Brains that function as if they are four years older. These are the figures from a study involving more than 2,700 adults with chronic insomnia

When you’re under pressure your body enters a state of alertness. The stress hormone cortisol keeps you vigilant. That’s useful in urgent situations, but the brain doesn’t distinguish between a caregiving task tomorrow morning and a lion around the corner. Under stress, the body remains in a heightened state of readiness, which prevents proper recovery during sleep. As a result, you either don’t get enough sleep or the quality of your sleep declines.

During a scroll through social media, I notice how persistent certain sleep myths still are. I’ve listed four common ones.

The metaphor of the accelerator pedal and brake pedal is powerful because it provides insight. It shows that insomnia is not a lack of ability to sleep, but a disruption of balance. It’s something that arises when your system receives the right signals and nothing is standing in the way anymore

In my sleep coaching programs, I don’t treat questionnaires as just a 'test'. I use them as a starting point for meaningful change