Andrew Colsky on The Hidden Epidemic of Sleeplessness

Sleepless nights have become so common that many of us accept them as an unavoidable part of modern life. Yet behind the late night scrolling, constant notifications and mounting pressures of work lies a cultural crisis with profound consequences for our health and wellbeing.

In the opening chapter of our four part interview series, Andrew Colsky, a voice deeply engaged in the conversation around sleep, takes us inside The Hidden Epidemic of Sleeplessness. From the moment he first encountered the link between sleep and mental health, Colsky has been exploring not just why we struggle to rest, but how society at large has allowed sleeplessness to become both normalised and misunderstood.

Here he discusses the myths, misconceptions and modern habits that keep us awake, and why better sleep is about more than small lifestyle tweaks. For Colsky, it is about rethinking the way we live.

When did you first realize that sleeplessness was not simply a personal struggle, but a wider cultural problem?

I first became aware of sleep issues as I attended a conference about mental health counseling and there was a session about sleep. I didn't really know what to expect, but I went in to learn more about it. That's when I started to realize how much sleep impacts mental health as well as physical health and that there was a lot of information available about sleep and also treatment methods to help people improve their sleep.

From there, I reached out to others in the medical sleep community and learn more about the tremendous need for sleep practitioners because the industry itself is finally starting to recognized as people realize the link between sleep and their mental and physical well-being.

How much of our sleep crisis do you believe comes from modern habits such as late night scrolling or constant notifications?

I think a lot of our sleep crisis comes from modern habits. The fact that we have electric light allowed us to change our schedules dramatically. And that also gives us the ability to stay out later or work later, all of which can impact our regular sleep patterns. The addition of mobile phones, computers, and social media have really expanded the anxiety related to our lives in general, which then has a negative impact on sleep.

There are certain social media platforms where people can discuss their own relationship with sleep. And I find that there's a lot of disinformation being shared back and forth between members of those discussions, which also leads to a negative impact on sleep.

One of the worst things that someone can do is lay in bed awake, trying to sleep and scrolling on their phone, reading about other people with sleep issues as that substantially increases their own anxiety about their current sleep problem, which makes them stay awake longer. So it's a vicious cycle.

Many people pride themselves on surviving with only a few hours of rest. Do you think lack of sleep has become a badge of honor in society?

Well, there's several parts to this answer. First, I have seen some things on social media where people pride themselves on trying to stay awake as much as they can.

I don't give it much credence and I'm sure that trend will die out and be replaced by another in a short amount of time, but it is something that is out there. The bigger concern that I have is that you look at medical doctors in their training and they are required to stay up for very long shifts that can only enhance mistakes that are made and patients lives are at stake. Same thing with some other types of professions such as attorneys or accountants who will burn the midnight oil often to catch up on billing requirements and assignments that require immediate attention. This can lead to high stress and burnout. It also leads to mental health and physical health problems that include depression, anxiety, heart health and others.

From your experience, what is the most damaging misconception people have about sleep?

Well, I think that a lot of people get a lot of bad information about sleep in general, such as the myth that they must have eight hours of sleep. Eight hours is sort of an average. Some people are fine with six hours of sleep. Some people need nine hours of sleep. So it's important that a person know how much sleep they need to be able to function properly.

The other thing which is extremely damaging in my opinion is the concept that people believe they need to have some sort of a sleep medication or a supplement or some sort of a crutch to help them sleep. Those things generally lead to worse sleep, not better sleep. Our body is designed to sleep, just like our body is designed to breathe. You may decide to hold your breath but you'll only be able to hold it for a certain amount of time before you have to breathe. It's the same thing with sleep. You hear a lot of people talk about how they haven't slept a wink in four days or five days. The reality is that they have slept. They just may not be aware of the sleeping that is taking place, or they may be exaggerating to gain sympathy from others but our body sleeps whether we want it to or not.

What small change would you recommend to someone who feels they have tried everything yet still cannot sleep?

Well, the first thing I always have to say is that our body is an entire system. You can't separate out sleep and think you're going to improve that if you're spending your time eating bad food, failing to exercise, putting yourself in stressful situations, using tobacco or alcohol or other substances that have negative effects on your body. So it's not a small change that's going to really impact someone's sleep. You can find plenty of small change suggestions on the internet, but...

in reality, they're not going to work. It's important that people who want to improve their sleep be serious about it and they work with a sleep professional who can help them identify the different things that are impacting their sleep so that they can make the appropriate changes to start to regain regular nights of consistent and restful sleep.

Do you believe we underestimate how deeply sleep shapes our long-term health? absolutely we do.

So many medical doctors even, as well as mental health practitioners, probably don't think much about sleep at all when they're treating a patient. The reality is that when we actually start to pay attention to a patient's sleep, we can often find areas where problems are derived because of a sleep problem or are being enhanced because of a sleep problem.

when people, including their medical professionals, start to pay attention to sleep, they often find ways that the patient can improve their own health. This apparently is more prevalent in Europe, where sleep is a regular part of medical evaluations.

If you could redesign the average daily routine to support better sleep, what would it look like? 

Well, there's some basics here. First, you would have a consistent sleep time and wake time every day. So, for example, you may decide to go into bed at 10 p.m. and wake up at 6 a.m., as long as you keep a steady routine, then you'll be doing fine with that part of it. Additionally, you should have a wind down routine that you do before bed so that you prepare your body for a night of restful sleep. Oftentimes, people might read a real book as opposed to an electronic book, or they may begin to prepare their bedroom for sleep, take a shower, put on their bed clothes.

Various different things that people do to prepare for sleep. They would finish eating at least two hours before they're planning to sleep. They would reduce their liquid intake so that they don't need to wake in the middle of evening to use the bathroom.

They would stop using any caffeine by about 2 p.m. at the latest in the day as caffeine has a half-life of about six hours and you want that out of your system. They would not be using stimulants such as nicotine or other stimulants because those would impact their sleep.

They would not rely on the fallacy of alcohol thinking that it helps them sleep better because the reality is that alcohol may very well help you fall asleep, but it also leads to you waking in the middle of the night and not getting a consistent night of restful sleep. So basically, I would say you have a standard sleep-wake schedule, same time every day as best you can, a wind-down routine prior to bed, you exercise good sleep hygiene in the bedroom, meaning you have a dark, quiet space with a comfortable bed and pillows, as well as clean sheets and bedding, and you get rid of any clutter that's unnecessary in the bedroom. You don't stay in bed unless you're actually sleeping. So laying in bed trying to sleep is an absolute no-no. You would get out of bed if you're not sleeping so that you associate bedtime with sleep, period.

This first conversation with Andrew Colsky makes clear that sleeplessness is far from a private struggle. It is a public issue with cultural, medical and social roots. From the dangers of misinformation and the misplaced pride in burning the midnight oil to the simple truth that our bodies are designed to sleep without crutches, Colsky highlights the urgent need to treat sleep as central to our long term health.

As the series continues we will move beyond awareness into solutions, exploring practical frameworks and expert insights that could help restore what so many have lost: consistent and restorative rest.