Beating Insomnia by Stephen Altschuler, M.Ed.

Stephen Altschuler, M.Ed. tackles the frustrating topic of insomnia and sleep struggles with his exhaustively researched and compelling new book, Beating Insomnia: A No-Nonsense Way to Natural Sleep.

Part memoir and part sleep guide, Altschuler welcomes readers into the sleepless recesses of his own experience with insomnia as a result of cancer, while also providing a wealth of resources and mental frameworks to address and overcome common sleep issues, whatever the cause. Despite the unique aspect of a memoir, Altschuler’s approaches to addressing his own insomnia could be applied to anyone’s experience, and many elements of the book are broadly philosophical, rather than specific to one person’s experience.

Altschuler’s conversational tone, with frequent asides and varied anecdotes, makes it feel like readers are having a long chat with a close friend, rather than a long lecture from an experienced professional. This is not to say the book lacks concrete information, as it is comprehensive – the second chapter is particularly interesting, asessing many of the available solutions for insomnia, with the author’s informed take on their efficacy.

Some parts of the book, including Chapters 8, 9, and 10, don’t feel as fully fleshed out as others, and could potentially be compressed together, or expanded individually, but there are some wholly original ideas here that could be of real help to people. Overall, the gentle pace of the writing and the personal flourishes to the author’s story combine for a revealing and genuinely insightful guide that should help readers attain a more rested life.