Monty Lyman was awarded the 2020 Andrew Lawson Pain Medicine Prize. This award encourages any UK-based doctor (below Consultant level) to submit an essay on the subject of ‘Long-term pain, sleep and pain medications: vicious circles or good cycles?’ Monty was invited to give a talk on pain, sleep and opioids at The Royal Society of Medicine’s pain webinar on 7 September 2020. He argued the case that, while pain impacts sleep, sleep deprivation has a powerful effect on worsening pain.