Author: Tracey Marks, MD
Publisher: Bascom Hill Publishing Group, 147 pages
Book Review by Laxmi Chaandi
I heard someone say to me in my youth: “One of life’s most precious treasures is sleep, especially sound and restful sleep.”
Dr. Tracey Marks, a sleep specialist who is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist has been studying and advising patients on how our mind-body connection determines quality of lives we live. She has written this book to provide answers to an increasingly large number of people who have trouble with: falling asleep, having good-quality sleep or waking up fully rested.
The answers she provides in this book are to questions like: how much sleep is required, what happens if you don’t sleep, why you can’t sleep, whether you need to evaluate your sleep, if you need sleep medication and if so, which ones to take and which to avoid.
Dr. Marks also writes about the things you can do to improve your sleep such as sleep hygiene, relaxation therapy and something you may not have heard of: chronothetapy.
She also helps you discover cognitive therapy and bright-light therapy. If you like millions of people have problems falling asleep, staying asleep and getting enough sleep, this is a must-read book for you.
Sometimes, you sleep well but your child cannot. Well, that’s a sleep problem you need solutions to. So, sleep disorders in children are covered in this book, too. Should you close their room door but check in, or should you close your child’s door, say “good night” and ignore them till wake-up time? Should you wake them up before they wake you?
In the last chapter entitled “putting it all together” she helps you remember, summarize and make notes (yes, blank pages are provided for you at the end of the book) of the important subject covered in the book.
There are also helpful charts in the Appendix like sleep diaries that help discover your normal sleep pattern and what caused changes or even anomalies in that sleep pattern, such as what time you went to sleep and why, whether medication or alcohol was consumed, or if you smoked any cigarettes.
The sleep diaries make you record how you felt when you woke up, such as groggy, somewhat rested or well rested. It also helps you make notes on how your next day was. Were you tired, slow but okay, or energetic?
All in all, this is a helpful book on understanding sleep, learning what are the causes of inadequate or bad sleep; helping your children get good sleep so you get good sleep as well; analyzing your sleep pattern and taking the necessary actions to get great sleep, such as avoiding the wrong medication, knowing the kinds of drinks to avoid and the right amount of those that may adversely affect you.
Read this great book by sleep expert Dr. Stacey Marks and really master your sleep. Then, have a good night’s sleep every time!
