ADHD & Sleep: 6 Week Course

with Heather Darwall-Smith

Heather opens the course with the big picture: a dysregulated nervous system makes for unstable sleep, and somewhere between half and four in five adults with ADHD live with chronic sleep problems. She unpacks the three drivers — dopamine, a body clock that runs late, and hyperarousal, pictured as a shaken-up fizzy drink bottle — then turns to time blindness, sleep inertia, the evening “second wind”, and why the shame so many people carry about sleep is misplaced.

• Why so many adults with ADHD have chronic sleep problems
• How dopamine, a late body clock and hyperarousal keep you wired
• Why ADHD mornings can feel like pushing mud uphill
• Why standard “just go to bed earlier” advice so often fails

with Heather Darwall-Smith

Heather digs into the science of feeling wired but tired, reframing ADHD as a condition of arousal regulation, not just attention. She explains delayed clock genes and the cortisol–melatonin “seesaw”, the brain’s search for dopamine late at night, hyperfocus, time blindness and the faint internal signals that should tell you you’re sleepy — then shares gentle strategies that work with an ADHD brain: soft stops instead of hard deadlines, automated cues, a simple sleep diary and the power of self-compassion.

• Why ADHD is a condition of arousal regulation, not just attention
• How the cortisol–melatonin “seesaw” shapes your night
• Why missing your sleep window isn’t game over
• Soft stops and automated cues that support working memory

with Heather Darwall-Smith

Heather moves from disrupted sleep to the diagnosable sleep disorders that are far more common with ADHD. She explains insomnia through the “three Ps” model, delayed sleep–wake phase disorder, restless legs and periodic limb movements, sleep apnoea and the risks of drowsy driving, and parasomnias from hypnic jerks to nightmares — along with sleep compression, a dream-completion technique for nightmares, and the three questions to answer before you see your GP.

• How insomnia starts and persists: the “three Ps” model
• Telling ADHD restlessness apart from restless legs syndrome
• The warning signs of sleep apnoea, and why diagnosis matters
• What to prepare before you talk to your GP

with Heather Darwall-Smith

Why does a nine-to-five world feel so hard with an ADHD body clock? Heather explains how early starts cut into REM sleep and create constant social jet lag, and explores chronodiversity, night and shift work, and “anchor sleep” for irregular schedules. She looks at alcohol as an off-switch, rejection sensitivity at night, and the gender bias that leaves so many women diagnosed late — before closing with practical ways to ask for what you need at work, at school and from your GP.

• Why early starts cut REM sleep and cause social jet lag
• How anchor sleep can steady shift workers’ sleep
• Why alcohol disrupts REM sleep, and what to try instead
• How to ask for adjustments at work, school and the GP

with Heather Darwall-Smith

The course’s toolbox session: Heather walks through an ADHD-friendly day from waking to lights-out. She makes the case for a consistent wake time as your biggest lever, then covers morning light, sunrise and vibrating alarms, caffeine timing, movement, the evening second wind and revenge bedtime procrastination, and building a gentle wind-down together. Along the way she teaches three breathing techniques, talks about sleep with teenagers, and explains when tools like sleep restriction are used.

• Why a consistent wake time is the biggest lever you have
• How to time caffeine so it helps rather than hurts
• Three breathing exercises for winding down and night waking
• How to handle second winds and revenge bedtime procrastination

with Heather Darwall-Smith

In the final session Heather pulls the course together into a plan you can sustain. She explains why 3–4am waking is normal, how to handle setbacks without all-or-nothing thinking, and how to build your own coping plan for bad nights. Then she answers the topics attendees asked for — how menopause can unmask ADHD and disrupt sleep, why ADHD brings more vivid dreams and nightmares, and what melatonin really does — and closes with when and how to seek professional help.

• How to build a coping plan and bounce back after bad nights
• Why menopause can unmask ADHD and disrupt sleep
• What melatonin really does — a time cue, not a sleeping pill
• When to seek help: GP visits, sleep studies and CBT-I