In his 2017 bestseller “Why We Sleep” Mathew Walker takes us through “The New Science of Sleep and Dreams”
Broken into four parts, Walker takes us through what’s happening as we sleep, NREM (non-rapid eye movement) and REM sleep, how this aids in memory formation and problem solving. How are body clock and circadian rhythm influence our selling patterns and how this changes over our life time.
Walker then goes on to explain the benefits of sleep and perhaps more shockingly the detrimental effects of not getting enough sleep. Walker links lack of quality sleep to dementia, cancer and heart disease. In showing the links between sleep and brain development Walker highlights sleep’ influence on mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.
Next up are dreams and dreaming, with Walker stating “Freud was 50% right and 100% wrong”.
Walker seems to be more aligned with Carl Jung’s theory of dreams as self therapy (though he doesn’t state this in the book) with a chapter titled “Dreaming as Overnight Therapy”. Walker goes on to explain dreams therapeutic, social, creative and problems solving benefits.
The last part of the book tackles the extreme detrimental effects of lack of sleep, death. How we got here as a species and a society to chronically undervaluing sleep, what could should and what is being done to address this.
Interestingly from a counselling perspective are the insights into depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, PTSD and psychosis. Varyingly influence by sleep, development and dreaming.
Walker backs this all up with a plethora of studies conducted by himself and many others. He is good at admitting when the studies are inconclusive, only showing correlation or where the direction of influence may be unclear i.e. is it depression influence sleep issues or is it sleep issues influencing depression. Walker is also clear when it is is own theories rather than the results of studies he is sharing.
Considering the studies heavy nature of the book Mathew Walker manages to make it a compelling and engaging read. I was left feeling this is an important book and one that will hopefully influence not only individuals but also corporations and governments to prioritise sleep, something the Walker himself is trying to do. It has certainly influenced me to include discussions around sleep into my professional work more.
Who is this book for?
This is a book for everyone. It is well written and engaging while being highly informative. This book may change the way you engage with sleep and how you prioritise it.
