Understanding sleeplessness : perspectives on insomnia / David N. Neubauer ; foreword by Paul R. McHugh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neubauer, David N., 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sleep disorders.

Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders--psychology.

Sleep--physiology.

Medical Subjects:

Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders--psychology.

Sleep--physiology.

Physical Description:

x, 192 pages : illustrations ; 24cm

Place of Publication:

Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003.

Summary:

Seemingly the most natural and necessary of pursuits, a good night's sleep eludes a remarkable number of people -- up to 50 percent of the general population, according to studies, while 10 to 15 percent suffer from severe or chronic sleep disorders. Because the causes and nature of sleeplessness are so many and varied -- and often as elusive as sleep itself -- the diagnosis and treatment require a flexible, multifaceted approach -- and this is precisely what David N. Neubauer lays out in Understanding Sleeplessness. Building on the four perspectives conceptualized by Paul McHugh and Phillip Slavney in The Perspectives of Psychiatry, Neubauer offers a much-needed explanation of the diverse ways of understanding insomnia and what should be done about it. He begins by surveying what is currently known about the mechanisms of "normal sleep" and, in this context, describing the problems of defining, assessing, and measuring insomnia. Drawing examples from patients studied at the Johns Hopkins Sleep Disorders Center, Neubauer then applies each of the four perspectives -- diseases, dimensions, behaviors, life stories -- to the varied kinds and degrees of sleeplessness. Finally, calling on the full range of perspectives on insomnia, he outlines an integrated approach to evaluation and treatment. His work will be of great interest and value to those who study and treat sleeplessness and to those who wish to understand this widespread and vexing problem.

Contents:

The problems with insomnia

Normal sleep: what we know and how we know it

Sleep as a motivated behavior

The dimensions of sleep

Life as the context of sleep

Insomnia as a symptom or a disease

Evaluation and treatment: the need for integration.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 179-186) and index.

ISBN:

0801873266

OCLC:

50858917