ABC's Diane Macedo, Author of "The Sleep Fix"
40m | Dec 14, 2021In this episode
- How Diane Macedo's years in overnight and early-morning news contributed to her sleep problems
- Why she stopped assuming she was simply a lifelong "bad sleeper"
- The myth that every adult must get exactly eight hours
- How circadian timing complicates sleep for shift workers
- Light, darkness, meals, exercise and properly timed melatonin
- Why anxiety about sleep can become a self-reinforcing insomnia loop
- How the bed can become a cue for wakefulness instead of sleep
- Why a "perfect" bedtime routine can sometimes become another source of pressure
- Constructive worry: the notebook exercise Macedo uses to unload unfinished thoughts
- What research does — and does not — show about bedtime writing
- Why The Sleep Fix was almost called Insomnia Hacks
- Dan Harris, meditation and the problem with product-driven sleep hacks
- Macedo's experience with Ambien, tolerance and prescription sleep medication
- Why "I can't sleep" can point to very different sleep disorders
- Restless legs syndrome, sleep apnea, narcolepsy and missed diagnostic clues
- Why sleep medicine education in primary care has historically been limited
- The story of Macedo's two-month-old sleeping through the night — and why it should not be treated as universal infant advice
- How The Sleep Fix grew into an ongoing sleep-education project
About Diane Macedo
Diane Macedo is a three-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, ABC News anchor and correspondent, bestselling author and sleep educator. She anchors ABC News Live First and serves as a breaking-news anchor and correspondent across ABC News platforms, including appearances on Good Morning America, World News Tonight with David Muir and Nightline. Her 2021 book, The Sleep Fix: Practical, Proven, and Surprising Solutions for Insomnia, Snoring, Shift Work, and More, grew from her own experience with insomnia and her reporting on sleep science. She now also runs The Sleep Fix Method.
MENTIONED
The Sleep Fix — Diane Macedo
The book at the center of this episode, published December 14, 2021.
The Sleep Fix — official book page
Diane Macedo — ABC News biography
Current biography and ABC News work.
The Sleep Fix Method
Macedo's current sleep-education project, expanding the work that began with the book.
AASM behavioral treatment guideline for chronic insomnia
The guideline supporting CBT-I and its core behavioral and psychological components.
Recommended sleep duration for healthy adults
AASM/Sleep Research Society consensus: seven or more hours regularly for most adults, with individual variation.
Constructive worry and pre-sleep cognitive arousal
A small controlled study testing a structured worry-and-solutions exercise in people reporting insomnia.
Constructive worry added to behavioral insomnia treatment
A small randomized feasibility study examining whether constructive worry added benefit to behavioral treatment.
Bedtime to-do lists and sleep onset
A polysomnography study comparing writing future tasks with writing about completed activities.
AASM pharmacologic guideline for chronic insomnia
Evidence-based recommendations on prescription insomnia medications, including zolpidem.
FDA warning on zolpidem and other prescription insomnia medicines
The boxed warning concerning rare but serious complex sleep behaviors.
Read the FDA safety announcement
Sleep education in medical school
The international survey behind the long-running concern that physicians receive limited formal sleep education.
American Academy of Pediatrics infant feeding guidance
Current parent guidance emphasizing hunger cues and individualized feeding rather than a single clock-based schedule for every infant.
10% Happier — Dan Harris
Harris appears in the conversation as a friend of Macedo's and the person she credits with helping move the book away from its original Insomnia Hacks title.
Dr. Lynelle Schneeberg
Sleep psychologist discussed in the episode in connection with melatonin and sleep education.
Yale School of Medicine profile
Dr. Chris Winter
Sleep neurologist and previous Snooze Button guest referenced during the conversation.
