New Episode Dropped 🚨🚨🚨 #shorts

6 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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In this short video, Nyree Penn, MHSc., CAA explains the distinction between sleep phenotypes and endotypes. While many patients present with the same observable symptom—difficulty sleeping (the phenotype)—the underlying causes (endotypes) can vary widely, such as new parenthood, work stress, or grief. Penn emphasizes that identifying the specific endotype is crucial for effective treatment, a process offered through the Insomnia Sleep program. She also notes that before such targeted approaches, the primary option for patients was a generic sleep study, which addressed only the symptom without uncovering the root cause.

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We identify your sleep endotype. Most of our patients come in and they say, "I'm sleepy. I can't sleep." And then naturally I'm like, "Okay, but why?" Because I'm a new parent, or because I'm so stressed out at work, or because I just lost a parent. Those are different endotypes. But your physical appearance when you come to me is that you can't sleep. So that's the difference between an endotype and a phenotype. A phenotype, a P H E N O T Y P E phenotype. Just think of like physical, P H Y physical. So that's saying your physical. Physical appearance is sleepy, but your underlying endotype is different, and that's what we look at in Insomnia Sleep. As a society, we've done a great job of telling people they can't sleep, and unfortunately right now, prior to Insomnia Sleep, the only other option was, okay, I can't sleep, my phenotype is I can't sleep, let me go get a sleep study.