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You did your job. You addressed the patient’s breathing and airway issues. But they are still spending their days feeling like they haven’t slept. What’s the deal?
This week, sleep expert and psychiatrist Dr. Shane Creado joins Jason Tierney and Dr. Erin Elliott to solve the mystery of the "tired-but-treated" patient. We are diving into the "busy brain," the trap of sleep trackers, and why your bedroom might be training you to stay awake.
Whether you are a doctor helping patients or just someone tired of being tired, this episode is a wake-up call. It is time to stop focusing on how long you stay in bed and start focusing on how well you actually sleep.
What We Discuss in This Episode
- Pills vs. Skills: Why retraining your brain with CBT-I is better than using sleeping pills like Ambien or Xanax.
- The Airway Isn’t Everything: Why opening the "pipe" does not always turn off the "alert" button in the brain.
- Bedtime Math: Why spending too much time in bed can actually make insomnia worse.
- The Busy Brain Problem: How to stop your brain from treating 2:00 AM like a stressful business meeting.
- The Tracker Trap: Is your Oura Ring or Apple Watch giving you "Orthosomnia"? This is when you are so stressed about your sleep data that you cannot actually sleep.
- Sleep Like a Pro: How small changes can turn an average person into an elite athlete.
- Social Jet Lag: Why sleeping in late on Saturday feels like a five-hour flight delay for your brain.
- The Golf Secret: How to talk to patients about sleep so they actually listen. (Hint: Talk about their golf score, not their blood pressure.)
The Big Idea
Most people think sleep is just something that happens when you aren't awake. Dr. Creado explains that sleep is actually a skill. If your brain has "learned" how to stay awake and anxious, a CPAP machine or a dental appliance cannot fix that on its own.
This episode is about moving past the hardware (the airway) and fixing the software (the habits and the mind).
Resources and Links Mentioned
Dr. Creado’s Tools
- The Book: Peak Sleep Performance by Dr. Shane Creado
- The Course: Overcoming Insomnia Program (Search "Amen University")
- Dr. Creado’s Patient Resource Guide: Download Here
Research and Studies
- The Stanford Sleep Extension Study: Research showing that getting just 30 minutes more sleep can improve athletic accuracy by up to 40%. Link: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3119836/
- The MLB Sleep Study: Data showing that 72% of "sleepy" Major League Baseball players are out of the league within two years. Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130531105506.htm
- The Sauna Study: Research indicating that regular sauna use can improve sleep quality in 83% of users. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31126560/
Key Concepts for Further Reading
- CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia): Find a specialist via the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine.
- Paradoxical Intent: The psychological trick of "trying to stay awake" to lower sleep anxiety, famously used by psychiatrist Viktor Frankl.
- Orthosomnia: A term for the unhealthy obsession with achieving "perfect" sleep data from wearable devices.
