How To Sleep Better (2005)

Presented by Robert Winston, How to Sleep Better is a practical guide to the world of sleep. The programme explores the common problems, dangers and the mysteries that have puzzled scientists for years. One in five motorway accidents are attributed to a lack of sleep, which was also a contributory factor in disasters such as Chernobyl and the Challenger shuttle explosion. This programme looks at the dangers of poor sleep, how people perceive their sleep and provides real solutions. Viewers can find out about practical tools to help them get a good night's sleep rather than resorting to over the counter drugs. Most people have suffered the torment of a sleepless night at some point in their lives - for some it's an ongoing misery. How to Sleep Better follows a group of self-professed poor sleepers as they take part in a 'sleep lab' to pinpoint what is keeping them awake. In this brilliant one-and-a-half-hour show, BBC host Robert Winston examines common sleep problems. To help him, there are six volunteers and various sleep experts and health professionals. Although the show is Britain-focused, the advice and tips apply to anyone anywhere who has sleep problems. BBC has a bunch of documentaries about sleep and dreaming, but this one is unique because it’s designed to be a practical guide. Very well done and very watchable right through. Over the show, they put volunteers through several tests, determining what kind of sleepers they are and what levels their executive skills (concentration, attention, reaction time etc) are. Everyone also goes through sleep profiling – including us viewers. The volunteers get customized advice and try and act on it by making changes to their environment, routine or pattern of sleeping. And finally everyone goes through the tests again to compare. Everyone showed improvement except for one person who was disqualified because he changed his situation halfway through by quitting his night job. Among the problems taken up were snoring loud enough to wake your family, neighbors and yourself up, not being able to get to sleep because the baby is crying all night, being completely zombied from tough night shifts, being under so much stress you can’t sleep etc.