The department of

Sleep Disorders

Sleep disorders — from insomnia and sleep apnea to restless legs — affect millions, and here you'll find diagnosis guides, treatment reviews, and research notes.

Pieces 6
A photorealistic nighttime portrait of a fatigued nurse in blue scrubs sitting alone in…
Shift Work July 2026 · 6 min

How Shift Work Disorder Is Diagnosed — and When "Just Push Through" Stops Working

The standard advice for anyone starting night shifts is some version of your body will adjust. Sleep badly for a couple of weeks, the reasoning goes, then your rhythm resets and you're fine.

By Patrick Sumner · Read →
A close-up photorealistic photograph of a dimly lit bedroom at night, a bedside analog…
Insomnia July 2026 · 6 min

Sleep Disorders vs. Bad Habits: What the 15-Minute Rule Actually Tells You

There is a number that sleep clinicians carry around in their heads: fifteen minutes. That is roughly how long a healthy adult should take to fall asleep after the lights go out.

By Laura Pendleton · Read →
A lone night-shift worker sitting on the edge of an unmade bed in a…
Shift Work July 2026 · 6 min

Shift Work Disorder Is a Diagnosis, Not a Feeling — Here's How the Line Got Drawn

Most people who work nights assume the exhaustion is just the job. You sleep badly during the day, you're wrecked at 3 a.m., and you tell yourself this is what you signed up for.

By Daniel Whitfield · Read →
A dim bedroom at 11 p.m., photographed from a low angle at the edge…
RLS July 2026 · 5 min

Restless Legs Syndrome Is Not a Leg Problem

Here is the claim, stated flatly: Restless Legs Syndrome is not, in any meaningful sense, a disease of the legs. The legs are where you feel it. They are not where it comes from.

By Judith Hawthorn · Read →
Sleep Disorders June 2026 · 5 min

I Stopped Calling It Snoring: Living Beside Central Sleep Apnea

The loudest sleep apnea is the easy one. The dangerous one is quiet. That sentence sounds backwards, and for the first month I lived beside it I would have argued with it.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
A serene midafternoon scene of a woman resting on a sunlit sofa, eyes closed…
Sleep Disorders June 2026 · 8 min

When a Nap Helps and When It Hides Something: Napping With Sleep Disorders

A nap, the headlines like to say, can cut your risk of dying from heart disease by almost a third. There is a real number behind that, and it is more interesting — and more slippery — than the…

By Claire Munroe · Read →