An Interview with a Sleep Expert.

One of UK’s leading sleep experts, Dr Neil Stanley has spoken to us about the importance of sleep and how LightSleeper can help. Dr Stanley has been involved in sleep for 27 years, and you can read his biography here.

Why is sleep important?

Good sleep is as important to good physical, mental and emotional health as diet or exercise. Poor sleep increases the risk of numerous illnesses from obesity to heart problems to depression. Poor sleep affects the way we feel and perform during the day and can also negatively affect or relationships

Everybody needs different amounts of sleep, why is that?

Sleep need is individual like height or shoe size. Many factors can affect the amount of sleep you need with genetics, upbringing and lifestyle all playing a part in determining the number of hours that you need. Anywhere between about 4 to 10 hours can be considered normal but the important thing is to get the right amount of sleep for you. Essentially this is the amount of sleep that leaves you feeling awake and refreshed during the day.

How big a problem is sleep deprivation in the UK?

Research carried out by LightSleeper shows that 64% of us have a bad night’s sleep at least once a week, with nearly one in five of us having sleep problems every night of the week.

How are people typically treating sleep deprivation at the moment?

Most people just seem to accept that poor sleep is just a part of their hectic lifestyle and don’t seem to do much about it. However this is a mistake as sleep is so vital to good health that people should see getting a good nights sleep as an important part of their day. Many people try to have some sort of a wind down routine before bed but most never actually seem to have the time to do it, some people use over the counter medicines or herbal supplements that may help the get to sleep

Is this all insomnia?

Insomnia is a medical term and I don’t believe that most people feel that they have insomnia even though they regularly do not sleep well at night. True insomnia is probably relatively uncommon most people who have poor sleep could do a lot of things about their lifestyle and their environment that would help them get better sleep

LightSleeper helps relax the mind before sleep, why is this helpful?

For most people who do not have a medical sleep disorder one of the most important ways of getting a good nights sleep is to relax both body and mind putting aside the cares and worries of the day and allowing you mind to be receptive to sleep. There are a number of ways of doing this and some people swear by this or that method what is important is that you find what works for you.

Why is reading not helpful to some people?

One of most common techniques that people use to try and get to sleep is reading, however if the book is interesting or a real ‘page turner’ it may actually keep you awake, this is especially true if you wake up in the middle of the night and try reading to get back to sleep.