Sleep And Health

“Roland, do you ever sleep? I can’t imagine your schedule" This question pops up surprisingly often in my comments. So, let me share my approach to sleep today 😉 First things first: I'm a morning person. However, my workload doesn't always allow for that. That's why I would describe myself as a flexible morning person who ensures my body gets enough sleep. This also holds true when I am traveling. I am lucky that I can always sleep anywhere, including power naps on the way from one appointment to another. I kindly communicate my need for a few minutes of silence to any accompanying colleagues during these power naps 😀 My Sleep Schedule: On a non-travel week, I usually go to bed between 10:00 pm and midnight. My alarm clock – I use an app that wakes me up with my favorite songs – starts playing (not ringing!) between 5:00 am and 6:00 am. When traveling, I try to adapt to the local time zone on the day of arrival, regardless of how long I’m staying in that particular time zone. I try to stay awake as long as possible so I get good sleep on the very first night. I avoid napping in between. And I don’t break my exercise routines while traveling. This helps me stay energized during the day and get good sleep at night. My Sleep Habits: I try to avoid checking my inbox just before I go to bed, because sometimes I cannot avoid letting open items linger in my mind, which prevents me from getting good sleep. All in all, I don’t aspire to be one of those "I only need 5 hours of sleep"-people. Sleep scientists say that every human needs a minimum of 7 hours of good sleep. Less sleep cannot be made up for with a single long night of sleep. Consistently getting less than 7 hours of sleep can cause health issues and negatively impact your performance and behavior. How do you ensure you get quality sleep, even with a busy schedule? I'd love to hear your approach in the comments! 👇

How much physical energy does it ACTUALLY cost you to worry about the future?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲. We track our bodies 24/7. Count every calorie. Measure sleep, HRV, glucose, stress. From Apple Watch. To Oura Ring. To the latest “temple” device. Somewhere along the way, awareness turned into obsession. Here’s the paradox no one talks about: We have the best health-tracking tools in history, and some of the worst health outcomes. Something doesn’t add up. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗦𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗽 Studies on orthosomnia (an obsession with “perfect” sleep metrics) show that people who fixate on sleep scores experience more sleep anxiety, lighter sleep, and poorer recovery—even when objective sleep doesn’t improve. Trying to optimize sleep can literally break it. 𝗛𝗥𝗩 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀 HRV is a useful trend marker—but daily fluctuations are normal. Research shows that constant HRV checking can heighten health anxiety and perceived stress, especially when users don’t understand variability or context. Ironically, stressing about HRV often lowers HRV. 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 ≠ 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Behavioral science research consistently finds that excessive self-monitoring leads to hypervigilance, loss of bodily trust, and decision fatigue. When every sensation becomes a data point, people stop listening to internal cues and start deferring to dashboards. In short: 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆. So what actually creates health? The same fundamentals that worked 5,000 years ago: • Deep, peaceful sleep • Regular sunlight • Real, nourishing food • Daily movement • Time with people you love These don’t need algorithms. They need presence. Use wearables if they serve you—I do, occasionally. But don’t let them become your master. Your life isn’t an algorithm waiting to be optimized. It’s a system meant to be felt, explored, and course-corrected. The best health coach you’ll ever have is already inside you. Trust it.

Ever wake up just before your alarm? It might not be a coincidence… It turns out, our brains have a natural way of keeping track of time, an inborn “clock” mechanism, which is synchronised to light in our environment. It’s got the coolest name for such a tiny brain region: the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) - literally, the group of cells (nucleus) above (supra) the optic chiasm (crossing). The SCN is essentially your brain’s “master clock” because it is responsible for coordinating our circadian rhythms. Light-sensitive cells in your eyes send signals to the SCN, which regulates melatonin - a hormone that makes us sleepy - via the pineal gland. Our species evolved to be diurnal, being active in the day and sleeping at night. As a result, daylight inhibits melatonin release, making us more alert. At night, the lack of light promotes melatonin release, making us sleepy. This is why for better sleep hygiene, experts often recommend limiting exposure to electronic devices for at least an hour before bedtime. The light from electronic devices can shift your body clock and this gets aggravated by heightened anxiety associated with doom scrolling -- neither of which helps your sleep. Want to support your brain’s internal clock? A few simple habits can make a big difference: 👉 Get natural sunlight in the morning. This helps reset your body clock. 👉 Stick to a consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends. 👉 Limit screens at least an hour before bed. 👉 Keep your bedroom dark and cool to promote better sleep. BTW, in teenagers melatonin starts to be produced later at night, which is why many teenagers don’t feel sleepy until much later in the evening. It’s also the reason they struggle to get up in the morning. For teens, going to school early is a bit like forcing them into a different time zone during the week and only letting them reset on weekends. When your teenager sleeps in on the weekends, bear in mind they are dealing with a genuine biological change in their circadian rhythm during the teenage years. So when you wake right before your alarm, blame (or credit!) your suprachiasmatic nucleus for being such a good time keeper! Understanding our biology helps us work with our natural rhythms rather than against them. How do you optimize your daily schedule around your circadian patterns?

NEW WHOOP RESEARCH ON EXERCISE & SLEEP I am proud to share that WHOOP research has just been published in Nature Portfolio's Nature Communications. Our study analyzed 4.3 million nights of sleep across nearly 15,000 WHOOP members to answer a simple but important question: does working out at night hurt your sleep? Here’s what we found: -Strenuous evening workouts can delay sleep onset, shorten sleep duration, and reduce sleep quality. -Elevated nocturnal heart rate and decreased heart rate variability were observed post high-strain evening exercise. -Importantly, workouts concluding at least 4 hours before bedtime showed no negative impact on sleep. So what? If you're training hard but not sleeping well, *when* you work out may matter just as much as how you work out. This is one of the largest studies ever published on exercise and sleep - and it’s only possible because of continuous WHOOP data and our commitment to research that improves human performance. Congratulations to Emily Capodilupo, our SVP of Research, Algorithms, and Data, and her team, as well as our collaborators at Monash and Harvard. Full article in Nature: https://lnkd.in/e6MXE85u

467 people turned their iPhones into dumb phones for 2 weeks. Calls and texts only. The results were closer to "new medication" than "digital detox." Here's what the researchers actually did. They blocked all mobile internet on participants' phones for 14 days. The only remaining things were calls, texts, and desktop internet. Then they measured well-being, mental health, and sustained attention three times across the month. Average screen time dropped from ~314 minutes per day to ~161. Roughly two and a half hours of life returned to people, every day. After the block lifted, screen time rebounded. But it stayed below baseline. Two weeks of enforced reduction recalibrated what "normal" felt like. The outcomes were striking: → Well-being up (Cohen’s d ≈ 0.45) → Mental health up (d ≈ 0.56) → Sustained attention up (d ≈ 0.23) In psychology, these are big effect sizes. The mental health improvement was larger than the average effect of antidepressants in meta-analyses, and similar to the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy. Attention gains were roughly equivalent to reversing 10 years of age-related cognitive decline. From two weeks without Instagram. Let that one sit for a second. 91% of participants improved on at least one outcome. → 73% improved well-being → 70% improved mental health → 59% improved sustained attention This wasn't a lucky subset. It was almost everyone. Why did it work? More time in the offline world: walking, exercising, being outside, talking to humans in person. Less media. More sleep. Better self-control. By the way, more sleep increases feelings of aliveness across the board. One important nuance. Only about 25% of participants kept the block for 10+ of the 14 days. The average effects held anyway. Meaning: even partial reduction moves the needle. You don't have to be perfect to benefit. Who gained the most? → People with high FOMO → biggest well-being and mental health gains. → People with more ADHD symptoms → biggest gains in self-reported attention. If the phone feels like it's running your nervous system, you're likely to benefit most from unplugging from it. A 14-day protocol for anyone who wants to try it: → Block mobile internet (keep calls and texts) → Batch desktop use into 1-3 windows a day → Pre-plan what fills the space: walk, gym, friend, book → Keep a one-line mood and energy log If a full block feels unrealistic, time windows, app blockers, and batched notifications still help. Two weeks. The world doesn't end. What comes back is focus, sleep, calm, and time. That's a better ROI than most things you'll try this year. SOURCES: Castelo, N., Kushlev, K., Ward, A. F., Esterman, M., & Reiner, P. B. (2025). Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being. PNAS Nexus, 4(2), pgaf017.

Major new report on global trends in mental health, from Sapien Labs. Data from 2.5 million people across 85 countries. Some of the most important findings: 1) Young adults used to generally have good mental health, compared to older generations. But now, in ALL countries examined, they are doing badly compared to older generations in that country. 2) "Four key factors have emerged that together predict three quarters of this effect. These are diminished family bonds, diminished spirituality, smartphones at increasingly young age, and increasing consumption of ultra-processed food." 3) The decline of young people's mental health is "most pronounced in the wealthier and more developed countries." They note that it is in such countries that smartphones are given earliest, junk food is most heavily consumed, spirituality is most diminished, and family ties are looser and often weaker. 4) "A younger age of first smartphone ownership is associated with increased suicidal thoughts, aggression, and other problems in adulthood." 5) Here is their summary of findings on early smartphone ownership: "GenZ is the first generation to grow up with a smartphone. Among this group, the younger they acquired their first smartphone in childhood, the more likely they are to have struggles as adults. These struggles extend beyond sadness and anxiety to less discussed symptoms, such as a sense of being detached from reality, suicidal thoughts, and aggression towards others. The effects arise through disruption of sleep, increased risk of exposure to harmful online content, predators, and explicit material as well as increased probabilities of cyberbullying during crucial developmental years. Excessive time spent on smartphones also diminishes the development of social cognition that requires learned interpretation of facial expressions, body language, and group dynamics. The negative impacts are particularly sharp below age 13." The report is short, accessible, and important. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gXev9WCK

We've always known that sleep, movement, and nutrition matter for longevity—but a brand new study in The Lancet just quantified exactly how little it takes when you address them together. The study followed nearly 60,000 adults and found something remarkable: combining just 5 extra minutes of sleep, 2 minutes of moderate physical activity, and a small dietary improvement (like adding half a serving of vegetables) per day was associated with gaining one additional year of lifespan. When researchers looked at improving these behaviors individually, sleep alone required 25 minutes more per day to achieve the same one-year gain. Physical activity alone needed 2.3 minutes. And diet alone? It couldn't produce a statistically significant benefit on its own. The secret is synergy. These behaviors amplify each other through interconnected physiological pathways. Sleep affects appetite regulation and energy for movement. Movement improves sleep quality. And nutrition supports both. This is proof that you don't need a complete lifestyle overhaul to extend your life. Small, sustainable changes across multiple pillars of health create compounding benefits that isolated interventions simply can't match. What's one small improvement you can make in each area today?

I thought my high resting heart rate was just anxiety. I was wrong. For the last few months, my WHOOP was giving me a wake-up call I didn't fully understand. My Resting Heart Rate (RHR) in India was hovering around 80 BPM. Not ideal, but I figured it was my baseline—or perhaps just the byproduct of a high-stress lifestyle. Then, during a recent trip to the US and UK, I noticed something strange: my RHR dropped to 70 BPM. I felt noticeably calmer and better rested. I’ve always attributed my health struggles to anxiety, but this time, the data suggested something else was at play. The Investigation: I suspected the air quality at home. I bought a monitor to measure CO2 levels and the results were startling: at night, the CO2 in my bedroom was hitting 1,200 PPM. For context, ambient outdoor air is around 450 PPM. We were essentially sleeping in a "bubble" of stale, recirculated air. The Experiment: We decided to test a simple ventilation hack. We turned on the kitchen air pump (which we usually kept shut) and kept the internal doors ajar to encourage airflow. The Data-Driven Result: Ambient CO2: Dropped from 1,200 PPM to 500 PPM. Resting Heart Rate: Hit 65 BPM—a level I hadn't seen in months. The Critical Realization:Most of us rely on split ACs. While they are excellent at cooling and filtering dust (AQI), they do not introduce fresh air. They simply recirculate the same air over and over. As we breathe, CO2 builds up, triggering a sympathetic nervous system response that forces the heart to work harder while we sleep. The Path Forward: We need to start thinking about ventilation as a health priority, not just a comfort one. While Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERVs) are the gold standard, they often require complex ducting. We need more accessible, decentralized ways to pump fresh, filtered air into our homes without major renovations. If your RHR is high and you can’t figure out why, stop looking at your stress levels and start looking at your air monitor. The solution might be as simple as a breath of fresh air. #Biohacking #AirQuality #WHOOP #HealthTech #Ventilation #Wellness #DataScience #SmartHomes

Before a psychiatric diagnosis can be made, it has to survive a medical workup. This is one of the most important, and most consistently missed, steps in mental health care. The brain runs on glucose, oxygen, hormones, nutrients, and an immune system it shares with every other organ. When any of those inputs are disrupted, the brain produces symptoms indistinguishable from psychiatric illness. Examples of what gets missed every day: ⚕️ Hypothyroidism can present as depression. Studies show up to 26.2% of depressed patients have abnormal thyroid function. Treating the thyroid condition should be the first step. ⚕️ Hyperthyroidism can look like anxiety or mania: racing thoughts, insomnia, irritability, and palpitations mimicking panic disorder or hypomania. ⚕️ Iron deficiency can mimic ADHD or depression. Iron is important in dopamine synthesis, and testing without ferritin levels routinely misses this etiology. ⚕️ B12 deficiency can manifest as depression, cognitive decline, and in severe cases psychosis. Neurological impairment can occur at levels considered normal by standard reference ranges. ⚕️ Sleep apnea can present as depression and ADHD: cognitive fog and low energy are driven by chronic hypoxia and fragmented sleep. ⚕️ POTS and dysautonomia can look like anxiety, depression, and cognitive dysfunction, driven by cerebral hypoperfusion when upright, not primary psychiatric illness. ⚕️ PANDAS/PANS manifests as sudden-onset OCD, tics, anxiety, and behavioral change in children. The hallmark is dramatic onset, often overnight, following streptococcal or other infection. ⚕️ Autoimmune encephalitis can present as psychosis. 75% of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis patients first present to a psychiatrist. It is treatable, but can be fatal when missed. ⚕️ Cushing's disease can look like bipolar disorder: cortisol excess produces mood instability, insomnia, and cognitive impairment. Here's what a basic workup for any psychiatric condition should include: → CBC, CMP, TSH, free T4, B12, folate, vitamin D, iron studies with ferritin, fasting glucose, HbA1c, lipid panel, CRP, urinalysis, toxicology screen. Suspected POTS: → Orthostatic vitals (supine, sitting, standing at 1, 3, and 10 minutes); tilt table test if indicated. Suspected PANDAS/PANS: → Throat culture, rapid strep, ASO titer, anti-DNase B antibody, CBC with differential, ANA, ESR, CRP, mycoplasma IgM/IgG. First-episode psychosis: → Add ANA, anti-NMDA antibodies, HIV, RPR, neuroimaging. Treating a medical condition as a psychiatric one can cost years of a patient's life. The most evidence-based first step in mental health care is ruling out the medical conditions that produce psychiatric symptoms. We should be doing it every time. Follow me Britton Ashley Arey, MD MBA for evidence-based perspectives on psychiatry, mental health, and the science of the mind. #Psychiatry #MentalHealth #IntegratedCare #MindBodyMedicine #MentalHealthAwarenessMonth