The Sleep Myth

Description

Does a lack of sleep really cause diabetes, cancer, and dementia? Is it true that we’re sleeping less than ever? Can a melatonin supplement “fix” our sleepless nights? 

These days, we’re able to customize our sleeping environments with x and x and even track personal sleep data with the touch of a button. So why are we still tired?

For most of us, getting the rest we need is easier than the wellness industry wants us to believe. In this fascinating journey through the history, science, and culture of sleep, award-winning journalist Amanda Ruggeri debunks the modern myths driving today’s $78 billion sleep industry. Part exposé, part sleep self-help, The Sleep Myth untangles today’s prevailing narratives around sleep, rest, fatigue, and wellness with the aim of helping you feel more rested. 

Offering a nuanced understanding of the latest sleep science, Ruggeri unpacks:

• How our sleep habits have changed (for better or worse) since humanity’s hunter-gatherer days
• Why the misleading modern ideal of “eight uninterrupted hours” should not be considered a “one size fits all” 
• Exciting new research changing our understanding of sleep, from paradoxical insomnia to how our brain takes local “naps” while it’s awake 
• How little-known, complex factors like our relationships, chronotype and mindset shape our tiredness
• The hidden costs of the wellness industry, from melatonin supplements to wearable sleep trackers
• How society’s growing obsession with sleep wellness and data is causing anxiety, insomnia and orthosomnia (an obsession with “perfect” sleep)
• Why rest, not just sleep, deserves more attention
• Simple, science-based strategies to improve your personal relationship with sleep

Everyone deserves to feel well-rested. Incisive and reassuring, The Sleep Myth offers a big-picture look at not just why, but how we sleep, so you can stop striving for perfection and get the restorative rest you need.  

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