Insomnia: a cultural history

In the few remaining pre-industrial equatorial societies, the prevalence of chronic insomnia is just 1–2%; indeed, within these communities there might not even be a word to signify involuntary sleeplessness.[...]social factors have a determining influence on apparently natural patterns of sleep and...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Lancet (British edition) Vol. 391; no. 10138; pp. 2408 - 2409
Main Authors Whitehead, Kimberley, Beaumont, Matthew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 16.06.2018
Elsevier Limited
Subjects
Cultural Evolution - history
Electroencephalography
History of medicine
History, 17th Century
History, 18th Century
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
History, 21st Century
Humans
Insomnia
Sleep
Sleep disorders
Sleep Hygiene
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - ethnology
Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders - history
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In the few remaining pre-industrial equatorial societies, the prevalence of chronic insomnia is just 1–2%; indeed, within these communities there might not even be a word to signify involuntary sleeplessness.[...]social factors have a determining influence on apparently natural patterns of sleep and sleeplessness.According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the noun first appeared in print in Alexander Morison's article on “Sleep and Sleeplessness” in The Lancet in 1908.[...]the term “insomniac” had been in use for at least a couple of decades by the time Morison used it in The Lancet.[...]the insomniac overcomes his condition by working night shifts on the railway, a routine that infallibly makes him fall asleep at precisely the moments he is supposed to remain fully awake.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31275-3