Chronotherapy

Resetting Your Inner Clock to Boost Mood, Alertness, and Quality Sleep

By: Michael Terman Ph.D., Ian McMahan PhD

Narrated by: Greg Zarcone

Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on decades of research, Chronotherapy shows you how to harness the power of light to reset your natural clock and boost your mood, be more alert, and get a good night's sleep. A good night's sleep can be hard to get. Sleep problems and depressed mood often go hand in hand, forming a frustrating cycle. Only now are we beginning to understand the way these problems are based in the working of the brain's inner clock, through the science of chronobiology - the study of circadian rhythms and their regulation by light and darkness.

For the first time, Michael Terman, PhD, director of the Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms at Columbia University Medical Center and a leading expert in chronobiology and chronotherapy, shares his scientific insights and treatments that have helped thousands of insomnia sufferers find relief. Like all our cousins in the animal kingdom, we have an internal timing system that is exquisitely sensitive to the pattern and brightness of the light we are exposed to. Contemporary life, however, often deprives our clock of the daily signals it relies on. As a result, our bodies are easily thrown into conflict with daily work and family requirements, causing major sleep disruptions that affect our mood and productivity. The list of problems includes depression, insomnia, seasonal affective disorder, jet lag, shift-work disturbance, adolescent sleep loss, and more.

Chronotherapy offers an authoritative, clinically informed way to understand and break the frustrating cycle of clock-based sleep disorders. Dr. Terman, along with Ian McMahan, PhD, an expert in developmental psychology, explains the science behind chronobiology and lays out the full range of rhythm-shifting strategies, including the proper use of light therapy, structured exposure to darkness, bedroom dawn and dusk simulation, melatonin supplements, and sleep scheduling, to bring you the kind of sleep your body needs. Chronotherapy has the power to recalibrate your life with renewed energy, vibrant good health, and peace of mind - spanning life stages from the earliest years through old age.

©2012 Michael Terman and Ian McMahan (P)2013 Gildan Media LLC

Critic reviews

"This brilliant audiobook offers a simple, fascinating account of successes with timed light treatment and user-friendly sleep times. It is essential listening for anyone with persistent sleep problems." (Josephine Arendt, PhD, M.D., honoris causa, ex-President, The European Biological Rhythms Society, and author of Melatonin and the Mammalian Pineal Gland)

A life saver?

I was amazed at how many conditions can be helped with chronotherapy, And how well.

The narrator is very understandable and enjoyable to listen to.