30 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {quickpunch} What’s the biggest sleep myth that people still believe? That everyone needs eight hours of sleep. While this is ideal, most people can function just fine on seven. Is sleeping in a cold room actually better or just trendy? Sleeping in a cave was once ideal. And it still kind of is. People enter deep sleep more easily and longer when it’s cooler. What’s the weirdest dream scenario that’s actually very common? Anxiety dreams are most common. Lost at the airport without a ticket. Running through a school uncertain in which room your test is. Most often, this is rooted in some daytime stressor or deadline. Another common dream to watch for is drowning or suffocating, as this can be a marker of sleep apnea. Are you a napper? I’m not a good napper and I can’t really sleep in on weekends. My mind is active and full of ideas, which can make it hard to wind down. Meditation has genuinely helped move the needle. I’m currently working on a book titled Meditation and Medication: When Is It Time to Chill, and When Is It Time to Pill? Can you tell us a little more about the performance psychiatry side of your work? I often joke that I get to fine-tune the Ferraris of Silicon Valley. These are brilliant, driven people who sometimes run a little hot. You would be amazed how often greatness and instability travel together. THE Q & A ALEX DIMITRIU What’s your favorite quote? “More suffering happens in imagination than in reality.” We can dream big or dread big. How do you recharge? Nature is how I reset. I love local hikes, kite surfing, wing foiling and skiing. I try to stay in the elements year-round. Being tossed around a little recalibrates you. It reminds you what matters. How have modern factors changed human sleep compared to pre-electricity times? Lighting is everything. Since the light bulb and smartphone, sleep duration has dropped. Blue light makes things worse. I dim lights heavily in the evening using warm tones, candlelight, and sunset colors, which help melatonin levels. Friends joke they need a headlamp at dinner. Is scrolling before bed really that bad? You’ve got to do boring things before bed. Scrolling is the opposite. Your phone is the equivalent of a slot machine. You search, and it occasionally rewards you with something interesting. Your brain just gets too excited at a time when it should be slowing down. Be honest, how many hours are you typically getting a night? Most nights, I get about seven hours. I sleep best when I’m in bed by 10:30pm, though life doesn’t always cooperate, especially after the kids go to sleep and I crave a little quiet downtime. I may be a sleep doctor, but I’m still human. The sleep expert and consultation psychiatrist behind Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine discusses sleep myths, the bane of blue lights and the strange dreams that are actually trying to tell you something.
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