Podcasts From Toni Teixeira
S2E26| When Tracking Your Sleep Keeps You Awake
In this episode of Therapy, Tech & Takeout, therapist Toni Teixeira, LCSW, and entrepreneur Jackie Toale explore orthosomnia, a growing term for becoming ...overly focused on getting “perfect” sleep data from devices like smartwatches, fitness trackers, and sleep apps.
Jackie and Toni both recently started paying much closer attention to their own sleep scores, and quickly realized how easy it is for tracking to go from helpful information to something you think about far more than you intended.
They discuss what happens when your wearable says you slept well but you feel exhausted, why sleep-stage data isn't always as precise as it appears, and how the pursuit of a better sleep score can sometimes create even more anxiety around bedtime.
In this episode:
* What is orthosomnia?
* When sleep tracking becomes sleep anxiety
* Why wearable sleep data isn't the same as a medical sleep evaluation
* The difference between improving your sleep and improving your sleep score
* Why we may trust numbers more than how our bodies actually feel
* How tracking can subtly change our behavior
* What to do when you're becoming anxious or obsessive about sleep
* Why your relationship with sleep matters
* Toni's surprisingly simple mental trick for falling back asleep
* The importance of sleep hygiene and creating an evening routine
* How life changes, caregiving, new babies, stress, and disrupted routines affect sleep
* Why sometimes the healthiest response is accepting that your body may need something different tonight
One of the biggest takeaways: data can be useful, but it needs context. A wearable can give you information, but it can't tell the whole story about your sleep, your health, or how you're actually functioning during the day.
READ THE ARTICLE:
Sleep Foundation – Orthosomnia: Are Some Patients Taking the Quantified Self Too Far?
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/orthosomnia
📚 PREORDER TONI'S BOOK:
Easy Somatic Exercises for Everyone’s Brain
https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Somatic-Exercises-Everyone-Brain/dp/B0GGTF8YFJ/
ABOUT THERAPY, TECH & TAKEOUT
Therapy, Tech & Takeout brings together the perspectives of a therapist and an entrepreneur to explore how technology is shaping mental health and what it means for how we live, connect, work, and care for ourselves.
Hosted by Toni Teixeira, LCSW, and Jackie Toale.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please LIKE the episode, SUBSCRIBE to the channel, and SHARE it with someone who checks their sleep score before they even get out of bed.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome to Therapy, Tech & Takeout
00:19 Toni's milestone birthday and the Las Vegas Sphere
02:57 Jackie shares some exciting family news
04:17 What is orthosomnia?
06:08 Toni and Jackie start tracking their sleep
07:52 How common are health wearables?
08:19 Does sleep tracking help or hurt?
09:37 When tracking starts feeding sleep anxiety
11:34 Are we changing our lives just to collect data?
12:54 Improving sleep vs. improving the score
14:18 Can sleep data mislead us?
16:04 Wearables vs. professional sleep studies
18:20 Why sleep trackers can't tell you everything
19:41 When should you worry about sleep tracking?
20:26 Treating the anxiety instead of just removing the tracker
21:48 Changing your relationship with sleep
23:55 Toni's simple trick for falling asleep
27:34 Jackie's sleep strategies
29:03 Why sleep hygiene actually matters
30:31 Prioritizing yourself and your sleep
31:22 Sleep during stressful seasons and life changes
32:07 Final takeaways
#Orthosomnia #SleepTracking #SleepAnxiety #SleepHealth #Insomnia #WearableTech #SleepTracker #AppleWatch #MentalHealth #SleepTips #SleepHygiene #Anxiety #TechnologyAndMentalHealth #TherapyTechAndTakeoutShow More
S2E26| When Tracking Your Sleep Keeps You Awake
Can tracking your sleep actually make your sleep worse? In this ...
S2E25| The Hidden Cost of AI Anxiety: Why Constant Uncertainty Is Burning Us Out
Why does uncertainty feel so exhausting—even when nothing bad has ...
S2E24| We've Been Blaming Screens... What If We Were Wrong?
Are screens really causing the rise in anxiety among kids and teens? ...
Summer Tech News You Can't Miss | Tech Backlash, Shark Tank Science & Apple’s Motion Sickness Fix
What do Shark Tank pitches, a Gen Z “Luddite Festival,” and Apple’s ...
S2E22| How Technology Is Quietly Killing Intimacy : The Nervous System Connection
Is technology quietly destroying intimacy? What if your low energy, ...
S2E21| Always Online, Never Connected? The Mental Health Side of Remote Work
Millions of Americans now work from home, but what is remote work ...
S2E20| The Companies Between You and Your Therapist
Would you give a mental health company your face scan to keep seeing ...
S2E19| AI Companions: Cure for Loneliness or the Next Social Crisis?
Can AI solve the loneliness crisis… or is it making us more ...
S2E18| AI, Insurance, and the Business of Mental Health
What happens when insurance companies, venture capital, and AI start ...
S2E17| She Thought Therapy Was Confidential. Then Her Chats Appeared in Court.
In this episode of Therapy, Tech & Takeout, Jackie and Toni dive into ...
S2E16| The New Teen Addiction Nobody Prepared For
Sports betting is everywhere now and experts are warning that teens ...
S2E15| When We Automate Decisions, Who's Actually Responsible When Things Go Wrong?
What happens when an AI system is told not to make changes… and does ...