S2 #E4 Dr Neil Stanley: How to sleep well

Dr Neil Stanley started working on sleep when he was 16 – working at the neurosciences division of the RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine in Farnborough. Since then he has been involved in numerous research studies, a notable one being a study in Pakistan where the team recorded sleep in 8 people for 6 nights at 18500 feet. In 1993 Neil took up a position in the human psychopharmacology research unit, university of Surrey, where he became the director of sleep research. There he created and ran a 24 bed trials sleep laboratory, primarily doing clinical trials into the effects of medications on sleep. He also set up and developed the sleep service at the London Clinic. If Neil is not talking about sleep, he is writing about sleep, if he is not writing about it, he is reading about it, and if not reading about it – he is probably asleep. He is author of the book – How to sleep well. The science of sleeping smarter, living better and being more productive which I highly recommend – as well as being full of evidence-based information about sleep – it is very funny. His latest book is coming out on 24th Feb 'Sleep Divorce: How to Sleep Apart, Not Fall Apart'. Everyone needs to sleep. Virtually every major disease has been linked to sleep. Sleep affects our work, school performance, relationships, emotional wellbeing and our health. But in today’s society we take in so much information - the need for good quality sleep is key to our wellbeing. In this podcast we discuss what happens when we sleep and how much sleep we should get - 8 hours a night is a myth. We are all individual and what works for us is what is important. What is your sleeping environment like and what do you do before you go to bed? How can coffee, alcohol and tech affect our sleep? Neil says that the issue with blue light is a myth. What about sleep during the life course? Should babies cry themselves to sleep? Are teenagers nocturnal? What about the perimenopause? And do we need less sleep as we age? There were so many questions to discuss, this is my longest podcast to date. Sleep well.

Date of episode recording: 2024-02-22T00:00:00Z
Duration: 01.23.46
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Dr Neil Stanley
Producer: Joyce Harper
Transcription link: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/