Matthew Reed

About

What has struck me most over the years is how often people describe themselves as light sleepers, as though it were a fixed trait like height. They have usually been light sleepers since a particular year, which nobody has ever asked them about. That question changes things. Hypervigilance keeps a portion of your attention on duty overnight, which is why sleep never fully arrives and why every remedy aimed at sleep itself has quietly failed. We treat the duty rather than the sleep. Most people are startled by how much rest returns once the night shift is stood down. I have asked hundreds of people when they became light sleepers and the answers are rarely vague. There is almost always a year. If yours has a year attached to it, get in touch. We can start by working out what that year was, and what your nights have been doing ever since.