101: Sleep Science Today with Andrew Colsky - Episode 101101: Sleep Science Today with Andrew Colsky - Episode 101
UK Health Radio Podcast
Andrew Kolsky talks with Dr. Kelly Dardine about how trauma, long shifts and organisational pressures affect first responders’ sleep. They discuss insomnia, nightmares, shift work sleep disorder and practical behavioural and trauma-based tools that may help improve rest and resilience.
43:49•1 Sept 2026
Invisible Wounds and Restless Nights: First Responders, Trauma and Sleep
Episode Overview
- Sleep disruption is often the first sign that stress or trauma is starting to have a deeper impact.
- Rotating and long shifts strongly conflict with the brain’s natural sleep drives, increasing the risk of shift work sleep disorder.
- Behavioural approaches like CBT-I can reverse insomnia in as little as six sessions for many people.
- Trauma-focused therapies such as cognitive processing therapy and EMDR can reduce trauma-related sleep problems and nightmares.
- Consistent wake times, short naps and lighter food before bed can significantly improve sleep quality for shift workers.
“"The fewer times you are changing how you sleep, the better you will sleep."”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This conversation on UK Health Radio’s *Sleep Science Today* zooms in on a group that often gets overlooked in sobriety and wellness chats: first responders. Host Andrew Kolsky talks with Dr. Kelly Dardine, a former EMT and paramedic turned mental health clinician, who now works almost exclusively with police, fire, EMS, dispatchers and correctional staff.
She explains how "most first responders carry invisible wounds" and how those wounds show up first in their sleep – through insomnia, nightmares and chaotic shift patterns. You’ll hear how trauma, especially child deaths and incidents involving people they know, can spark intense sleep disruption that sometimes turns into chronic insomnia. Dr.
Dardine walks through trauma-focused approaches like cognitive processing therapy and EMDR, stressing that avoidance tends to make things worse, while supported processing can calm the brain and ease sleep. There’s plenty here for anyone juggling night shifts or stressful work. She breaks down how the brain’s sleep drive and circadian rhythm clash with rotating shifts, creating what’s known as shift work sleep disorder. Her advice?
Anchoring wake-up times, limiting naps to short “power” bursts, and treating sleep as a core part of emotional health – not an optional extra. She also tackles the widespread reliance on sleeping pills, pointing out that "we don’t need medications to sleep" and that many issues can change in as little as six sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia.
One of the lighter moments is a firefighter whose years of poor sleep improved dramatically once he swapped his nightly "snack" of two corn dogs and chips for something less heavy. If you’re sober or cutting back on alcohol and wondering why your sleep still feels broken – especially around shift work or old trauma – this episode could help you ask the right questions about what’s really going on with your nights.
How might your own stress and schedule be quietly rewriting your sleep story?
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