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I really wanted to love this book, and I was if anything biased heavily towards believing it. I read it cover to cover in less than a week. Sadly, I found that

I really wanted to love this book, and I was if anything biased heavily towards believing it. I read it cover to cover in less than a week. Sadly, I found that book made my sleep worse. (A quick Google will show I'm not alone). Also there is a lot of debate around the quality of the research underpinning the book, this is the most prominent article: https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/ https://guzey.com/books/why-we-sleep/ Also I really do not love his subsequent rebranding as "The Sleep Diplomat" https://www.sleepdiplomat.com/ https://www.sleepdiplomat.com/ I'm glad if it made your life better, but I cannot recommend it, and won't see it recommended without comment.

globular-toast 5y ago
I'm not familiar with the book but when you say "the book made my sleep worse", do you mean following the advice in the book made it worse, or simply reading the book made it worse?
- sammorrowdrums 5y ago
  The fear of the effects of not sleeping, which I believe are significantly overstated in the book, actually provoke some including myself into having a sleep interrupting fear of not sleeping. The link above has a section on the possible negative effects. So yes, just reading it had a negative impact. I'm over it now. Just don't recommend it.
cassianoleal 5y ago
I had the same reaction to the book. I love the content and the science behind it but it impacted my sleep for the worse. Once I stopped worrying about whether I was having enough sleep every night, I got back to my previous, not ideal but better, sleep patterns. Being a night person I just wish I could wake up late rather than having to be up early for work but it's better to sleep well for 5-6h than really badly for 3-4h.
me_me_me 5y ago
That is very interesting perspective, my quality of sleep definitely improved by compartmentalisation of sleep. And when I can't fall asleep I just get up and do something out of bed (for 15mins until I get bored).
criddell 5y ago
Walker responded to some of his critics here: https://sleepdiplomat.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/why-we-sleep-responses-to-questions-from-readers/ https://sleepdiplomat.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/why-we-sleep-...
- foobiekr 5y ago
  If anything the poor reasoning (almost all of which is weak correlations) on display on that page makes the criticism even more justified.

globular-toast 5y ago

I'm not familiar with the book but when you say "the book made my sleep worse", do you mean following the advice in the book made it worse, or simply reading the book made it worse?

sammorrowdrums 5y ago
The fear of the effects of not sleeping, which I believe are significantly overstated in the book, actually provoke some including myself into having a sleep interrupting fear of not sleeping. The link above has a section on the possible negative effects. So yes, just reading it had a negative impact. I'm over it now. Just don't recommend it.

cassianoleal 5y ago

I had the same reaction to the book. I love the content and the science behind it but it impacted my sleep for the worse. Once I stopped worrying about whether I was having enough sleep every night, I got back to my previous, not ideal but better, sleep patterns. Being a night person I just wish I could wake up late rather than having to be up early for work but it's better to sleep well for 5-6h than really badly for 3-4h.

me_me_me 5y ago

That is very interesting perspective, my quality of sleep definitely improved by compartmentalisation of sleep. And when I can't fall asleep I just get up and do something out of bed (for 15mins until I get bored).

criddell 5y ago

Walker responded to some of his critics here: https://sleepdiplomat.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/why-we-sleep-responses-to-questions-from-readers/ https://sleepdiplomat.wordpress.com/2019/12/19/why-we-sleep-...

foobiekr 5y ago
If anything the poor reasoning (almost all of which is weak correlations) on display on that page makes the criticism even more justified.