Our ancestors viewed sleep as a highly sensual and transcendent experience. Today, about a third of adults have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or feeling rested. We're becoming a nation of insomniacs.
We live in what Rubin Naiman calls, a ",鈥� where sleeping and dreaming are viewed as less important than being awake and on the go. It's hard to come down from the hyperaroused state we whip ourselves into by the end of a day. It's not surprising that we can't sleep.
Insomnia can be miserable when all we want to do is sleep. But than a medical condition to be solved by sleeping pills and.
Plus, insomnia can have its upside. Our minds can be more open to insights and new possibilities in the dark quiet of night when our thoughts can wander to unknown places that the conscious mind can鈥檛 see.
GUESTS:
- is a writer and Senior Editor at . She鈥檚 written five books. Her latest memoir is Insomnia. She鈥檚 also the author of The Middlepause and Garden Among Fires: A Lockdown Anthology. ()
- is a psychologist, clinical assistant professor of medicine and the sleep and dream specialist at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine ()
- is a writer and reporter for MIT Technology Review, where she also writes The Download newsletter ()
Join the conversation on and
Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.
