Hi, and welcome to No Sleepless Nights! I’m Ethan Green, the founder and owner of this website. I’m also the sole author of all the articles here, and the person you’ll see in all of the videos.
Let me tell you a bit more about myself, and how I hope you’ll find No Sleepless Nights to be a helpful resource.
My qualifications and background
In 1998, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from University College London (UCL).
I worked at Thames Reach in London for ten years, which is a charity supporting vulnerable and homeless adults to find accommodation and lead fulfilling lives. I worked in a mental health outreach team for five of those years, supporting people to lead independent lives in their own homes. Well-being, sleep, stress, physical and mental health, social activity, exercise, and substance abuse were important factors to consider when working with people in this job.
I left that job after having a life-changing illness. I refer to it occasionally in articles on this website, and it was what led to me deciding to change direction.
I started this website back in 2012 to share my experience of tackling my own sleep problems in the hope that others might benefit from the practical solutions I’ve discovered along the way.
Despite having a background in Psychology, it’s important to be clear from the outset that I am not a doctor. So if you came to this website looking for medical advice regarding sleep or health problems, I recommend consulting your healthcare provider or doctor.
What you will find here though is articles in which I discuss my own difficulties with sleep, along with some helpful tips I’ve picked up over the years.
My experience of sleep problems
I’ve had more issues with my sleep than I wish were the case! They include:
- As a child, I regularly sleepwalked and had nightmares. Even now, I still sometimes have nightmares, which I’m not embarrassed to admit.
- I’ve suffered from periods of insomnia for more than 20 years.
- I sometimes have sleep paralysis, hypnic jerks, confusional arousals, and false awakenings.
As a light sleeper who is sensitive to external stimuli, I also understand how disruptive environmental factors can be to our sleep, such as noise, light, discomfort, and feeling too hot or too cold in bed.
For that reason, I’m passionate about finding effective ways to tackle those problems.
My aims with No Sleepless Nights
1. To discuss self-help techniques and remedies I’ve tried
I’m a big believer in the potential for self-help techniques to improve sleep and stress, so I regularly try new ideas and write about them.
There are several articles with self-help tips on this site, and a good starting point are the main good sleep habits I discuss on the sleep hygiene page.
I also sometimes test and write about new sleep aids and herbal remedies. In those articles, you can also see many comments from readers who’ve tried them.
2. To share my personal experience of coping with sleep problems
I write about sleep problems that I have personal experience with. I share how they affect me and what, if anything, makes them more manageable.
I also look at what sleep experts and researchers say about these sleep problems, and discuss the points that I think are interesting and potentially useful to others.
Because I focus primarily on my personal experience of sleep problems, there are many sleep disorders that I don’t cover on this website, such as sleep apnea and narcolepsy, for example.
3. To encourage participation from readers
Several articles I’ve written have more than a thousand comments spread over many years. Many readers say they feel reassured to know they aren’t alone in experiencing a sleep problem.
Some articles have also generated useful tips from readers over time, so I curate lists of their tips for future readers who like to see what other people have found helpful.
Some examples are:
- Readers’ suggestions for coping with sleep paralysis.
- Readers’ tips for coping with hypnic jerks.
- Useful ideas for keeping cool in bed.
4. To provide in-depth sleep product reviews and comparisons
I pride myself on conducting thorough tests and reviews of sleep products in a real-life setting in my own home. Whether it’s a complex bed cooling system or a simple sleep mask, I do my best to create balanced and fair reviews.
I’ve tested and reviewed a wide range of sleep products since I started this website in 2012. There’s never a night when I’m not testing at least one new sleep product, and sometimes more than one at once to see how they combine or compare.
I hope my personal experience and knowledge of these sleep products will help you find something which meets both your needs and your budget.
Please note that I nearly always buy the products I review, but I do sometimes accept demos to test out. Before doing so, I’m very clear to the company concerned that this doesn’t entitle them to a glowing review – it entitles them to a fair review based on my experience of testing it in my home.
In some cases, I may receive a financial commission if you buy something via one of my links. I always make that clear at the top of articles that are set up that way. You can find out more about that on the affiliate disclosure page.
Thanks for taking the time to read about me and No Sleepless Nights. If you have any questions about the website or the content, please feel free to contact me.
You can also watch my latest videos and keep in touch on the No Sleepless Nights YouTube channel.
Sleep well,
Ethan