EPISODE 19 - Ian Dunican
“You’re like an S.A.S. soldier going into the Jungle of your mind - you need to be ready”
Ian Dunican
In today’s podcast, I spoke with Dr. Ian Dunican. Ian is amongst many other things, a sleep researcher and business consultant. As you will hear, Ian has his fingers in a lot of professional pies, but the through-line is that he is trying to optimize performance in many different fields. Ian has a burgeoning interest in psychedelics, and he first came on my radar when I heard him interview Stephen Bright on his podcast, ‘Learning to Die’. Ian is by no means an evangelist for psychedelics, but his curious mind and sensibility for the liminal and his libertarian streak means he is curious to see how they could be optimized to reduce unnecessary psychological suffering. We had an interesting discussion centered around not just the topic of sleep, but Ian has found a plethora of ‘non-pharmacological’ ways to access a transcendent state of consciousness. He also believes that sleep and psychedelics may have interesting overlaps that we are only just beginning to appreciate. s
In today’s podcast We Discuss;
Five to One by the Doors,
Ian’s background and time serving in the Irish Military, and his lifelong fascination with learning,
Ian’s early personal experience of the deleterious effects of sleep deprivation,
The overlap between sleep loss and mental health issues,
The history of the human study of sleep,
The ‘Grandfather’ of sleep Bill Dement,
Matthew Walker’s podcast discussions with Peter Attia,
Performance deficits associated with sleep loss,
Night shift work as a ‘possible carcinogen’ - Type 2A carcinogen,
The difference between a ‘sleep problem’ and a ‘sleep disorder,
The societal correlation between poor sleep and lower socio-economic status,
The limited efficacy of sleep medicines, the paucity of undergrad education into sleep science for health professionals, and the lack of understanding amongst the general population about good sleep hygiene,
The Parliamentary Report ‘Bedtime Reading’
Ian’s business Melius Consulting, and his work with Formula 1 Mclaren, and his adjunct researcher work,
His two podcasts: sleep4performance, and learning to die,
The Stages of Sleep, and sleep spindles
Ian’s theory of REM sleep as a practice of death,
The repudiation of death in our societies, and Ernest Becker’s ‘The Denial of Death’
Zen on the trail and the Marathon Monks,
The risks of taking psychedelics,
The Effects of Daytime Psilocybin Administration on Sleep: Implications for Antidepressant Action
Sleep as an adjunct for both preparation for and integration of psychedelic trips,
The risk of Serious Adverse Events with psychedelic trips
The potential need for overnight polysomnography as a preparatory tool for psychedelic trips - perfecting the ‘on ramp’
Ian’s tips for sleeping well,
Dr. Ian Dunican:
Sleep Researcher, Endurance Athlete, Business Consultant
Dr Ian C Dunican (PhD, MMineEng, MBA, GCASSc, BA) holds a PhD in Sleep and Performance from the University of Western Australia (UWA), where he worked with elite sporting organisations/athletes to optimise sleep, recovery, and performance.
Ian has worked with elite and highly trained athletes at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), West Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS), professional teams in Super Rugby, Australian Rules Football, Basketball, Swimming, Formula 1, McLaren racing, Netball, Ultrarunners and Martial Arts such as Boxing, Judo & MMA.
Ian is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with UWA and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University.
He researches in the areas of sports science, sleep science, jet lag and travel, chronobiology, health and safety, shiftwork, nutrition, and performance.
Ian is a regular speaker/chair at universities and international conferences. He regularly contributes to media articles such as with the Australian Financial Review, the Australian, Blitz Martial Arts, BJJ Scout, Huffington Post. He has also been featured on the health report on ABC radio in Australia, ABC radio national and numerous podcasts. Ian has appeared on ABC television, Channel 7, 9 and 10 in Australia.
He was a TEDx Perth speaker in 2017. Check out his talks and videos here. He has co-authored technical reports, guidelines for industry organisations and authored several scientific articles and is a regular reviewer for scientific peer-reviewed journals.
Ian is no stranger to physical activity. He served for five years in the Irish Military as a Non-Commissioned Officer and has completed over 20 ultramarathons to date including the Ultra-Trail Australia ~100km (x7), Leadville, Colorado~100 miler (x2) numerous other ultramarathons, marathons and trail running events. He has completed ultra-ocean swimming events 10-20km. He is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt and has trained in Karate and Traditional Japanese Jiu-Jitsu.