PREVIEW: Daisy Maskell - Insomnia And Me, BBC Three

Daisy Maskell, the UK’s youngest ever breakfast radio host, has lived with insomnia since childhood. For as long as she can remember, she has survived on as little as a couple of hours of sleep each night and is wide awake until the early hours of the morning.

With an ever-increasing workload, running on empty is starting to take its toll and Daisy is ready to uncover the roots of her insomnia and take the first steps towards treatment.

She is not alone. According to research by the NHS, hospital admissions due to sleep disorders have almost doubled over the past eight years among young people, and the recent Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the issue further still. In research conducted by Kings College London on a cross section of 2,500 people across the UK, almost half of 16 to 24 year-olds stated that they were sleeping significantly fewer hours than they had been prior to lockdown, in comparison to just a third of those aged 35 and over.

Daisy will meet experts and fellow sufferers to investigate why thousands of young people in the UK are struggling with sleep disorders and insomnia. Gaining tips along the way, Daisy will try a multitude of remedies and treatments in a bid to get a better night’s sleep. We will see her explore the roots of her insomnia, with revealing emotional insights into her struggles with her own mental health.

Insomnia And Me lands Tuesday 10th August on BBC Three.