1 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: A few technologies have advanced as rapidly as video games. 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: The Nintendo Classics that many of us grew up playing 3 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,640 Speaker 1: helped to pave the way for what today is a 4 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: juggernaut industry that gives players a virtual experience unlike any other, 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,480 Speaker 1: and one that occurs right in our own living rooms 6 00:00:22,760 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: and can connect us to a global community. I have 7 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:38,720 Speaker 1: been gaming since I was like maybefore when my dad 8 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:44,000 Speaker 1: brought over the Second Genesis, so I would say thirty 9 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: years I've been gaming, which is crazy to say out 10 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: loud now. Will Wiggins is a gaming content creator, graphic artist, 11 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: and illustrator with a large Twitch following. Online. He goes 12 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: by the name black Owny, and he's heavily involved in 13 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: the professional gaming community. It's a little addicting, right because 14 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: it's something that I love doing and the people watching 15 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: loved experience, and I'm like, our apid, I just have 16 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: to do it more. I have to do it later. 17 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: I have to make sure I'm around to get these 18 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: big raids from all the other content creators were smart 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: and went to bed on time, like they'll send their 20 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: people over to me. I'm like, all right, and we've 21 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 1: got some viewers. We got some engage. We've got some action, 22 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: and as important as viewers are, uh your health, none 23 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: of that's going to matter if you're not there to 24 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: like keep them entertained. Viewers add a whole new element 25 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 1: to the gameplay, essentially turning a passive pastime into a 26 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: globally connected community. So for Will, what started as playing 27 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: a couple levels of Sonic the Hedgehog alone after school 28 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: has ballooned into all night raids and tournaments occurring across 29 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: different time zones with an untold number of players, all 30 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: of this happening in vast realities created by nothing more 31 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: than ones in zeros. There's something different about some of 32 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: these games and immersive experiences that activate our brains in 33 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: very different ways. I think when you get into these games, 34 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: it's very difficult to pull yourself out. You may sit 35 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: down and think I'm gonna play for an hour, get 36 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 1: something to eat, get some sleep, and four hours later 37 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: you're still involved with it. Dr Chris winter As an 38 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:32,920 Speaker 1: aurologist and sleep specialist from Charlottesville, Virginia, um the author 39 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: of the book The Rest of Child Wire. Tired, wired, 40 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: or irritable child may have a sleep disorder and how 41 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: to help as well as the sleep solution, Why You're 42 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: sleep is broken and how to fix it. One of 43 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: the focuses of his career is the unique effects that 44 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: video games, screen time, and other related technology have on 45 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: our sleep. Sometimes I find myself going to sleep and 46 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:57,359 Speaker 1: thinking about the game I was playing, Like man, I 47 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:58,959 Speaker 1: can't wait to get up and play it some more. 48 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,239 Speaker 1: That still happens even to me. So like if anyone 49 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: else experiences that like I get it. Will's experience navigating 50 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: this massive community of constantly changing technology is certainly unique, 51 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: and it created obstacles to getting and maintaining proper sleep, 52 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: something that Chris knows all about. Using Chris's expertise, Will 53 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: delve into Will's journey to find out what happens to 54 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: our sleep when we spend much of the night fighting aliens, 55 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: looting dragons, and exploring virtual worlds in a way that 56 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: previous generations never knew. Hi, I'm on a hut O'Connor, 57 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: and this is chasing sleep and I heart radio production 58 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: and partnership with Mattress Firm. I've spent much of my 59 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: career looking into the obstacles that prevent us from getting 60 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: good sleep. Most of these obstacles have been with human 61 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: beings since we first started walking up right, things like stress, 62 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: finding time to rest, and even the position of the sun. 63 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: But a uniquely modern problem we face comes from technology, 64 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: both from being bombarded by blue light from multiple screens 65 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: and also from the extremely recent phenomenon of video games, 66 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: pulling our brains into completely different worlds, often right before 67 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: we try to go to sleep at night. To our brains, 68 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:38,080 Speaker 1: these developers and these games are so good that they 69 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: create real experience, like you feel like you were in 70 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: the deserted compound, surrounded by zombies trying to figure out 71 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 1: how to kill them and get to this next place 72 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: where all the other players are like, when in fact, no, 73 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,320 Speaker 1: you're just sitting in a chair in your bedroom looking 74 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: at a box of light, a box of light with 75 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: profound effects. Many of us have fond memories of jumping 76 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,839 Speaker 1: on turtles and saving princesses and those boxes of light, 77 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: And as the game's got more intricate, not only were 78 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: they more fun to play, but an entire audience started 79 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,359 Speaker 1: to grow that liked watching people play. A gamer streaming 80 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: on Twitch like black Owny Cannet tens of thousands of 81 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: followers and views. Back when I was living in Boston, specifically, 82 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:31,280 Speaker 1: I was working full time at least forty hours a week. 83 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,799 Speaker 1: I was streaming at least three to four times a week. 84 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: I was writing articles and posting videos, I was podcasting, 85 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: and for a lot of the time, I was single, 86 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: so I was able to do a lot of this. 87 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,440 Speaker 1: It's pretty amazing to me. So many of us have 88 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: watched the gaming industry evolved literally right before our eyes, 89 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: from these very un serious, blocky games where the main 90 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:01,839 Speaker 1: goal was just to jump from platform to platform to 91 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:07,159 Speaker 1: what we have today, these now ultra sophisticated storytelling medium 92 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 1: As you rode the wave of this changing technology, what 93 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: were some of the challenges that kept you from having 94 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 1: a healthy sleep routine. Yeah, it was. It was challenging, 95 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 1: especially to realize my limitations and realized like I needed 96 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: to do better about taking care of myself even though 97 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: I felt like I was. The sleep part was a 98 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: really big part of really buckling down, like, all right, 99 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 1: I just have to have to get more sleep or 100 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: else this is just going to keep happening to me. 101 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,159 Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep suffering. It sounds like you were aware 102 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: of the challenges from pretty early on. Especially because so 103 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: much of the streaming traffic occurs at night. Yeah yeah, 104 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: so I did try to like squeeze in every little 105 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: bit of sleep I could, but it was mostly because 106 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:54,679 Speaker 1: I was especially being on the East Coast and trying 107 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: to appease to the West Coast viewers as well. I 108 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 1: was staying up till at least two, maybe three sometimes 109 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: in the morning every time I streamed, and I was 110 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,559 Speaker 1: for a while, I was streaming almost every weekday. During 111 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: some of this time where I was doing just all 112 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,120 Speaker 1: this other stuff and only getting like five hours of sleep, 113 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: I definitely remember this distinct feeling of feeling like I 114 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: was like in this fog, where like I was just 115 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: so much slower, even though I was able to like 116 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: do so much during that time, I knew, I knew 117 00:07:26,640 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: when I back of my head that if I was 118 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 1: able to sleep more, I would be that much more efficient. 119 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:36,440 Speaker 1: Like once I once I laid down and sit to 120 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: go on that bed, like I was out, that was it. 121 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,520 Speaker 1: While falling asleep quickly allowed will to steal resting time 122 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 1: at every opportunity throughout the day. The ability to snooze 123 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,720 Speaker 1: as soon as we hit the pillow is actually a 124 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:53,640 Speaker 1: bug not a feature of our brains. According to Chris, 125 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: it's usually indicative of an unhealthy cycle of sleep. One 126 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: of the problems is if you ask most people what 127 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: is the sign of good sleep, they're going to tell 128 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: you how quickly you fall asleep. I always call it 129 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: speed to unconsciousness. If that's the if that's the thing. 130 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 1: And so when you're talking to two people, well, I'm 131 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 1: a good sleeper, but my roommate here he's a bad sleeper. 132 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: The good sleepers often defining themselves as a good sleeper 133 00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: because they get in bed and fall asleep fast, and 134 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: the bad sleeper man he gets in bed sometimes takes 135 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: him thirty four if five minutes to fall asleep. So 136 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: it's interesting that Will recognizes that because the idea that 137 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: he's turning everything off getting in bed and immediately out cold. Great, 138 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: but that could very well be indicating that his brain 139 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: is looking for more sleep than it's actually getting. Yeah, 140 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: that's pretty unnerving. So you're saying people out there could 141 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: be suffering from something sleep related and not even realize it. Yeah, 142 00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: because you again, they're the ones who fall asleep immediately. 143 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:02,520 Speaker 1: You know, they're the ones who when their partner comes 144 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: to see me because he or she can't sleep, Like, well, 145 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:07,920 Speaker 1: tell me about your partner. He's a great sleeper's he's asleep, 146 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 1: he can sleep anywhere. So I'm usually thinking as I'm 147 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:14,079 Speaker 1: talking to partner A, I'm I'm more worried about partner B. 148 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: Might want to get partner being here because he's really sleeping. 149 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: That makes sense that if you can fall asleep quickly, 150 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:24,600 Speaker 1: it just means that you're starved for sleep. And speaking 151 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: of partners, I find it interesting that sharing our sleep 152 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 1: space and time with someone else often forces us to 153 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:35,000 Speaker 1: look at it in a different way. Being in a 154 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: relationship forced me to approach it differently. Uh, specifically being 155 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: in a relationship that I realized early on, like I 156 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:49,199 Speaker 1: wanted to give more. For the reason I was single 157 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,880 Speaker 1: for so long was because like I just wanted to. 158 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,920 Speaker 1: There was always that tension of like, all right, do 159 00:09:57,040 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: I spend more time with her or do I spend 160 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: time focus sing on my business and focusing on you know, 161 00:10:02,720 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: getting my viewership up and getting more followers and blah 162 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: blah blah. If you can relate to being sleep starved, 163 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: and let's face it, most of us can, we tend 164 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,920 Speaker 1: to exhibit more of these behaviors in our younger years. 165 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:16,760 Speaker 1: I could have obviously been better about especially as a 166 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: younger guy, but I was just trying to fire on 167 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: all cylinders at all times, and it just drove a 168 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 1: wedge in between my health and like my ambition. When 169 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: we think about our sleepless youth, we might remember actually 170 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: being able to perform fairly well, or at least well enough. 171 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: There may have been late nights burning the midnight oil, 172 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: followed by early mornings cramming for finals or working double shifts. 173 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: It might even seem like we simply didn't need as 174 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:48,560 Speaker 1: much sleep back then. But what's really the case is 175 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: that our bodies were just better at powering through without 176 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: And when you think about video gaming in in the 177 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:57,760 Speaker 1: ages of people playing it, I have yet to encounter 178 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,160 Speaker 1: a sixty seven year old who's crushing it in call 179 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 1: of duty. Every in some competition, it's they're young people. 180 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: And the good and bad thing about young people is 181 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,800 Speaker 1: they can kind of abuse their bodies and still do Okay, Yeah, 182 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: because you're young. That's always tell the young athletes. So 183 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,320 Speaker 1: like I go out and play video games and go 184 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: to bars all night long, and as long as I 185 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,920 Speaker 1: get four or five hours sleep. I'm great, but that's 186 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: not gonna last. This is the time to really invest 187 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: in your sleep. Um. We see a lot of children 188 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,559 Speaker 1: in our clinic. The rise of twenty four hour gaming 189 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,320 Speaker 1: culture is definitely something that we've seen. In fact, one 190 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,640 Speaker 1: of the case studies in my new book, The Rest 191 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:39,720 Speaker 1: of Child was a family of a daughter who was 192 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 1: spending a tremendous amount of time between you know, after 193 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: school before she go to school the next day, on 194 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 1: platforms playing games where other people would pay her to 195 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,080 Speaker 1: do it, you pay to watch her do it. So 196 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: it was a very unusual situation of had she been 197 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: in some sort of travel old soccer team, I guess 198 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: that her parents would be much more supportive of it. 199 00:12:05,679 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: You know, she's gonna be the next Carly Lloyd or whatever. 200 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,960 Speaker 1: But they fundamentally did not like the fact that she 201 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:14,320 Speaker 1: was just playing video games all the time. Number one 202 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: and the number two dramatically impairing her sleep. Bad sleep 203 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,600 Speaker 1: will certainly take its toll eventually, no matter how young 204 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:24,680 Speaker 1: you are, the world of e sports and professional gaming 205 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,680 Speaker 1: is so new many are skeptical of its merits or 206 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: even the value we can hold as a full time 207 00:12:29,840 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: career and income source. But gaming is a gigantic industry, 208 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:38,080 Speaker 1: one that breaks in over two hundred billion dollars a year, 209 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,959 Speaker 1: with an audience that spans every corner of the entire world. 210 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 1: It's an audience that Will did everything he could to 211 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: reach and engage with early in his career. As Will 212 00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: dove deeper into his passion, he found it more and 213 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: more difficult to perform at his best. There was a 214 00:12:53,400 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: constant struggle between getting more sleep or getting more done. 215 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,360 Speaker 1: So that was always the constant like friction of like, oh, 216 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:03,360 Speaker 1: I know a need more sleep, but I know I 217 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 1: need to have to do way more things than just 218 00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: know that sleep would afford me at the time, it 219 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: seems like waking up and playing or gaming in the 220 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,199 Speaker 1: middle of the day isn't really an option the majority 221 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: of this community games views or I guess you could 222 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: say enters the chat later in the day. Would you 223 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: say that's the case for your audience as well. Yeah, 224 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: I think that most people who are playing or specifically 225 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 1: playing together with other people are doing it in the 226 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:36,720 Speaker 1: evenings because people are off of work, you've had their dinner, 227 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:39,800 Speaker 1: looking for some way to kind of like vibe out 228 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: and play something with their friends or just get real 229 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: sweaty and competitive and do something really fun. Usually that 230 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: happens at night. So I'm a neurologist by training. So 231 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: everything boils down to the brain and real estate within 232 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,240 Speaker 1: the brain. And when you look at sleep and what's 233 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: generating sleep and where that's happening in the brain, it's 234 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: sharing real estate that's very close to parts of our 235 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:08,040 Speaker 1: brain that regulate body temperature and regulate immune modulation, strengthening 236 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: or weakening our immune system. Will can definitely attest to that. 237 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: He found himself wrestling with multiple debilitating bouts of sickness 238 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:19,280 Speaker 1: every year. I used to get sick like three to 239 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: four times a year, um, just like the cold, like 240 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:25,280 Speaker 1: or the flu or just like some random thing that 241 00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: just completely takes me out. And it was because every night, 242 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: like every night, I was getting like five hours asleep. 243 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,880 Speaker 1: And it's not just all night gamers that see this effect. 244 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: Any intrusion into healthy sleep has consequences. I remember when 245 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: I was in residency and doing all that call, I 246 00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: was just constantly we were all constantly sick, you know, 247 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: we and we had no backup. So unless you were dying, 248 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: you had to come to like okay, well whatever. So 249 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: and as soon as I got outside of residency, all 250 00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: that went away. Cold sores went away, sicknesses went a way, 251 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: because there's a big tie in. And so it's really 252 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: interesting to look at some of that work on the 253 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: immune system and how that works, because we've always known, 254 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,040 Speaker 1: I mean, our grandmothers and great grandmothers could easily have 255 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,680 Speaker 1: told us, hey, look, if you don't get sleep, you're 256 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: gonna get sick. As far as I know, the idea 257 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: that you could get sick from a lack of sleep 258 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,280 Speaker 1: was just something people said that took a while to 259 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: be proven true by science. For a long time, it 260 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,600 Speaker 1: was just an anecdotal observation that if you were sleep 261 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,880 Speaker 1: deprived then you'd be more susceptible to flues and colds. 262 00:15:34,400 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: We've always known it, but it took a long time 263 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: for science to sort of catch up and sort of 264 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: prove it. And so there's a wealth of information now 265 00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: that really shows that quality sleep through manipulations of you know, 266 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: cyit of kinds, and immune modulating inter lucan's in our brain, 267 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 1: not to mention the modulation of the chemical growth hormone, 268 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: which is instrumental in strengthening and bolts during our immune system. 269 00:16:01,800 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: All of those things rely on qualities sleep. So when 270 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: we get good sleep, we tend to shake illnesses much easier, 271 00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: maybe never even manifest symptoms of them. It can't even 272 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: be contested or debated like how important sleep is, So 273 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: just not being sick alone proves worth it. We'll be 274 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: right back after a brief message from our partners at 275 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: Mattress Firm, and now back to chasing sleep. So we 276 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 1: have this fantastic community and platform for content creation, entertainment, 277 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: global connection, you name it. It's incredibly rewarding. We can 278 00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: do it from the comfort of our homes. It unites 279 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: people from all over the world. But the downside is 280 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,640 Speaker 1: that it forces us to be staring at these harmful 281 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:04,679 Speaker 1: blue screens, these basically light boxes, for hours at a 282 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:08,640 Speaker 1: time and often write up until bedtime. So there's gotta 283 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: be ways that you deal with this. What are some 284 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: techniques that you use to make all this screen time 285 00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 1: easier on yourself? I do wear protective glasses whenever I 286 00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: am playing, just because I know that based on studies, 287 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:27,120 Speaker 1: that it has some type of impact on me. So 288 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: I have two pairs of protective glasses for gaming specifically 289 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: or for making art. One has an amber tint, so 290 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: these ones have a little bit of like a blue 291 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: light blocking filter in them, and the other one is 292 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: a crystalline one that has anti glare anti blue light, 293 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 1: but it's much more subtle. It's it's more clear. I 294 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: use that for when I'm designing, and then I wear 295 00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:54,960 Speaker 1: the glasses protective glasses pretty much all the time whenever 296 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,360 Speaker 1: I'm creating content on Twitter, Facebook or whatever it is, 297 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: just because, like I know that does have an impact 298 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: on your eye strain, which has an impact on the 299 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: way you sleep, and and then introducing the blue light 300 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: into that as well. Yeah, I mean, it is a 301 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:14,479 Speaker 1: box of light after all, and when you add in 302 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,679 Speaker 1: late night hours and stressful gaming situations, it can be 303 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: pretty straining. But neutralizing that light may help to reduce 304 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: the damaging effects of late night gaming. Light in general 305 00:18:25,640 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: is problematic. In other words, our body sort of set 306 00:18:30,359 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: our circadian rhythm in a large part based upon available light. 307 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: So when there's lots of light out, your body understands 308 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,040 Speaker 1: that it's daytime. We need to be awake, looking for food, 309 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,240 Speaker 1: reproducing whatever whatever organisms do during the day. And then 310 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: as the light becomes diminished. It's a really strong trigger 311 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: through the chemical melotone and for us to get ready 312 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 1: to go to bed. But just the light in general, 313 00:18:57,440 --> 00:18:59,920 Speaker 1: being right there, you know, a foot and a half 314 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: from your face, really bright, very exciting, is interrupting your 315 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:10,400 Speaker 1: brains natural signaling of telling you it's nighttime, it's time 316 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: to go to bed. In fact, your brain thinks very 317 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: differently when you're in front of that screen and you 318 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:18,360 Speaker 1: see all that light, It's like, oh, it's lunchtime. This 319 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,120 Speaker 1: is the time to be awake. So when you're done 320 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: with that session and turn your light out at midnight, 321 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:29,159 Speaker 1: your brain doesn't necessarily quickly realize that it's nighttime and 322 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: will reminds us that when we're worrying about the big screen, 323 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: don't forget about that little screen that all of us 324 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 1: can easily look at too much. Trying not to be 325 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:40,119 Speaker 1: on your phone too much when you're in the bed 326 00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: is a is a big one too. Usually when I 327 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,479 Speaker 1: am going to bed, like I am ready to sleep, 328 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,760 Speaker 1: so I'll look at it so that I can set 329 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 1: my alarm, read any emails that may have come through 330 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: that I might have missed. Beyond that, I'm not really 331 00:19:56,040 --> 00:19:57,960 Speaker 1: on my phone too month when I'm in the bedroom, 332 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,760 Speaker 1: just because like I know that you can stay up 333 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,400 Speaker 1: much longer. You know. If it isn't because you're looking 334 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: at cat video on Instagram, is because the blue light 335 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: is keeping you awake. So I made that a priority 336 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,840 Speaker 1: pretty long time ago to just like all right, every 337 00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: once in a while, I'll wake up and like write 338 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:20,320 Speaker 1: something down, but I have an idea about But beyond that, 339 00:20:20,400 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: I try to limit the amount of phone I'm using. 340 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: The light factor is so impactful that Chris says simply 341 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: taking down that brightness or wearing protective glasses could make 342 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: all the difference, because it's not just a box of light. Remember, 343 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: this tech is changing and changing fast. There are devices 344 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:45,119 Speaker 1: that you can strap over your eyes that pull you 345 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: into a virtual realm. There's entire metaverses being created that 346 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: blur the lines between the game and real life. So 347 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: anything you can do to mitigate this bombardment of light 348 00:20:56,359 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 1: is helpful. This is always a difficult questions because it 349 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,960 Speaker 1: butts up against reality. You know, I hear various sleep 350 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 1: experts speak, you know, well two hours, you know, we 351 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: just really shut everything off two hours before you go 352 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: to bed, and there's nothing wrong with that, But I'm 353 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: always like, well, what what are you doing for the 354 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:16,119 Speaker 1: two hours? Just sit there in the dark for two 355 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 1: hours and think about life or something. So to me, 356 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,440 Speaker 1: if somebody says, look, I can't stop playing this video 357 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: game at ten o'clock and wait around until midnight to 358 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,439 Speaker 1: go to sleep, I think. And that's where you know 359 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: dimming the light? Can we make your monitor less bright? 360 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: Can we wear sunglasses or the blue block or glasses? 361 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: It wasn't easy, but Will built up a big following 362 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,000 Speaker 1: and carved out an amazing path in the career of 363 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:47,159 Speaker 1: his dreams. We'll Sleep is a lot better now, and 364 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:50,440 Speaker 1: so is his overall health and performance in life and work. 365 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:52,879 Speaker 1: It takes a lot to stay healthy, even in a 366 00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 1: community that we don't usually associate with workplace hazards or 367 00:21:56,680 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: on the field injuries beyond you know, prioritize time to 368 00:22:00,560 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: make sure you sleep is find out what you like 369 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 1: with regards to how you sleep, and be conscious of 370 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: your health. So I'm gonna reference competitive fighting game player. 371 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: He goes by Tokyto, and he's an excellent gamer. Not 372 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,160 Speaker 1: only is he like excels at the mechanical part of 373 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,119 Speaker 1: being a gamer, but he is one of the people 374 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,720 Speaker 1: who really pushed the narrative of why it's important to 375 00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:35,480 Speaker 1: take your health seriously when it comes to gaming, because 376 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:40,440 Speaker 1: it's not always considered like a high impact or performance 377 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 1: based profession, right like not like being a basketball player. 378 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: Taking your health into consideration is just as important as 379 00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:54,200 Speaker 1: how you strategize within games to be better about them. 380 00:22:54,359 --> 00:22:57,120 Speaker 1: Having the immune system to be able to do those 381 00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,919 Speaker 1: late nights whenever you need to, like on rare occasions, 382 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 1: like having the mental and physical affortitude to be able 383 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,920 Speaker 1: to do that without streaming yourself too much. All that 384 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 1: plays a part in you being able to do what 385 00:23:09,760 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: you love to do longer. And not just like in 386 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:16,679 Speaker 1: a literal sense of like marathon sessions, but just LifeWise. 387 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,359 Speaker 1: You know, things that you're doing to hurt yourself, uh 388 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: in this moment can have residual effects down the line 389 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,479 Speaker 1: if you don't do things to kind of counterbalance it. 390 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: So gamer or not, What is something that our listeners 391 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: can control in their immediate future to improve their sleep? 392 00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: Your bed, Like, think about like what you're sleeping on 393 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: and if it's really as good for your back and 394 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:49,399 Speaker 1: for your body and for your sleeping patterns as you 395 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 1: think so being aware of your sleeping habits and how 396 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: you like to sleep, and you know if you're a 397 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:59,640 Speaker 1: back sleeper or a side sleeper, the size of the bed, 398 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,400 Speaker 1: the firmness of it, the softness of it. Having all 399 00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: of those elements into play as well with your health 400 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: can make a big impact in how well you sleep. 401 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 1: So having some kind of priority on making sure your 402 00:24:17,880 --> 00:24:19,800 Speaker 1: bed is what you needed to be for you to 403 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 1: sleep your best is also a big part of your 404 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,120 Speaker 1: overall health and some that will help you keep doing 405 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: what you love to do longer. There you have it, 406 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,480 Speaker 1: our beds. Just as each gamer has their console or 407 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: PC of choice, their favorite controllers and hardware, each of 408 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: us should treat the thing we sleep on as a 409 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,919 Speaker 1: tool for better rest. Gaming isn't the only industry that 410 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:46,919 Speaker 1: evolves to challenge our sleep. As our world continues to 411 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: progress and modernize, we can face all sorts of challenges 412 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: that our hunter gatherer ancestors couldn't even dream of. I 413 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: was talking to the Money was a professor at one time, 414 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,320 Speaker 1: and she said the hardest part about her job was 415 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:06,120 Speaker 1: preparing people for jobs that don't exist now, meaning that 416 00:25:06,240 --> 00:25:10,120 Speaker 1: I'm talking to a student and in five years, they'll 417 00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,320 Speaker 1: be doing something that I didn't even know existed. And 418 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,399 Speaker 1: I think that really speaks to the rapid evolution of 419 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:20,680 Speaker 1: things that are happening right now, particularly within technology. And 420 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: if somebody said one of the biggest threat to a 421 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: younger person in terms of their sleep, I would say 422 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,800 Speaker 1: it's technology. And if technology is the biggest challenge to sleep, 423 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,400 Speaker 1: that puts people like Will Wiggins right in the thick 424 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: of it. That's all for this episode. Join me again 425 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: next week when I learned how a wildlife documentarian sleeps 426 00:25:44,119 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: in some of the most remote areas of the world, 427 00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,000 Speaker 1: all while being ready to record footage of some of 428 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 1: the most elusive animals. The Alaska Peninsula is one of 429 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: the densest populations of as in the world. I've spent 430 00:25:55,960 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: a lot of time with intent in the middle of 431 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,760 Speaker 1: that country. The house and pound carnivals and your your 432 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: tent in the morning and that could be two, three 433 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:12,959 Speaker 1: or full beds in view. We want to hear from you. 434 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:15,560 Speaker 1: Leave a rating or review for our show on your 435 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,800 Speaker 1: podcast player of choice. You can find me on Twitter 436 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:22,720 Speaker 1: at on a hot O'Connor. Until next time, Hoping you're 437 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 1: living your best while sleeping your Best Chasing Sleep is 438 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,719 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio in partnership with Mattress Firm. 439 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,760 Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Molly Sosha. Our EP of Post 440 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: is James Foster. Our supervising producer is Kia Swinton. Our 441 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,560 Speaker 1: producer is Sierra Kaiser. This episode was written and researched 442 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: by Eric Leasia and Jessica Patia. This show is hosted 443 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 1: by me On a Hot O'Connor