#14 - When in Sweden...
SLEEP
It’s been a big week … in Sweden .. both in work and play for me. And at the heart of this is ‘humanity’ - I’ve learned the Swedes not only take care of themselves, but others.
WORK
Yesterday saw the wrapping up of the Swedish Sleep Health Network conference here in Malmö, Sweden. Day 1 saw me provide training on the assessment and treatment of Delayed Sleep Phase in Adolescents. The audience was mainly nurse practitioners, psychologists, and a child psychiatrist. They were a great ‘audience’ and asked a host of great questions. Whilst treating teenagers’ sleep is my weekly practice (so I think it’s easy), I’m always surprised this learning hasn’t yet spread across the world. If you want to learn these treatments, see our TEEN WINK (Circadian) page for more info.
Day 2 at the conference saw four international speakers cover the development (both typical and atypical) of sleep for children and adolescents. Dr Georgia Cook and Prof Jane Appleton gave us some great insights into the economic costs of sleep problems in children, as well as what mums want when seeking help. And because sleep problems are so prevalent in children with medical conditions, Prof Teresa Ward provided some insightful facts about developing digital delivery of sleep treatments. The end of paediatric sleep development (adolescence) was covered by myself, where I spoke about our studies evaluating sleep interventions in high schools.
PLAY
Day 3 of the conference was spoken entirely in Swedish. So I took this opportunity to explore the city of Malmö … on Valentine’s Day (because I only know a few Swedish words). It was wonderful to see couples showing PDAs (public displays of affection). And of course it was difficult to get a table at a restaurant.
A tree decorated with hearts in one of the town squares in Malmö
But what also occurred on Valentine’s Day was the release of the podcast I had with Annie Grace from This Naked Mind fame. Annie and I spoke not only about the effect alcohol has on sleep - but when used often as a sleep aid - the insomnia that occurs when one stops drinking. Whilst sleep can improve in the medium- to long-term of abstinence, it’s the first week that can be quite troubling for alot of people. So we spoke about a range of different techniques people can use to make their sleep a little easier when deciding they’ve had enough of alcohol. You can hear the podcast here, and we have a special offer at WINK for our e-book about ‘Sleep & Alcohol’ for the next 30-days - stay on this webpage for at least 5 seconds and the offer will pop-up!
A comma after the word ‘Sleep’ in the title could help to reduce ambiguity !
Some of you may have learned that I conducted my own experiment - or more so a 365-day challenge - to abstain from alcohol. I managed to do this, and have decided to quit completely (after learning more from the research about the ill effects from alcohol).
So I was very surprised (and pleased) to celebrate Valentine’s Day in Sweden. That’s because the drinks menus here have a section called ‘Alkoholfri’ - which means ‘Alcohol Free’ - which doesn’t mean ‘Water and Sugary Drinks’. They have a number of alcohol free wines and beers. In fact, I was so surprised by the Alkoholfri Beer I had last night - 0.0% - yet I wouldn’t have guessed this with the flavour.
They have a monopoly here in Sweden for alcohol stores and there are restrictions on when it opens. Thus, there is less competition and the need to overly advertise. It really makes Sweden a model for many other countries to follow. Their practices follow the research - there is no safe level of alcohol. And alcohol causes more direct and indirect harm than any other drug.
So I imagine due to Sweden’s practices - which align with scientific research - that they sleep well too!