Why Can't We Sleep? (Paperback)

Darian Leader

ISBN 10: 0241984432 / ISBN 13: 9780241984437

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2019

About this Item

Paperback. A short, accessible analysis of how and why humans sleep - weaving together cultural, social, economic and psychoanalytic influences in pursuit of the truth about insomniaOne in four adults sleeps badly. Sleeping pill prescriptions have increased dramatically over the last three decades and our bookshelves and browser histories are littered with experts promising to 'fix' our insomnia.But is this so-called sleep crisis anything new? Our relationship to sleep has always been irregular and changeable, variously shaped by social conventions, commercial imperatives and personal psychologies. Look beneath the headlines and it seems that there is no such thing as a perfect night's sleep.Here Darian Leader reveals the history and pathology of sleeplessness - from the industrial revolution to Freudian dream analysis to the fears around blue light on our phones. Along the way, he dispels the pervasive myths and anxieties around this most universal human experience. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780241984437

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Why Can't We Sleep? (Paperback)
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241984432
• ISBN 13: 9780241984437
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

From the brilliant psychoanalyst behind Strictly Bipolar and What is Madness, a short and fascinating guide to the history of human sleep - and why we can''t seem to sleep any more

''Persuasive, absorbing and refreshingly sane... [A] bracing and important intervention in the debate... Leader points the way to a richer and more humane understanding of our problems with sleep'' Guardian

One in four adults sleeps badly.
Sleeping pill prescriptions have increased dramatically over the last three decades, as have the incidence of sleep clinics.
Sleep used to be a natural state, easy as breathing, but increasingly it is an insecure commodity.
...Isn''t it?

Our relationship to sleep surfaces and resurfaces throughout human history, each time telling us something new about our indivudual and collective psychology. From the industrial revolution to blue-light on our phones, from the ancient art of dream interpretation to the modern science of Freud, sleep is connected to wider social patterns, to shifting norms and expectations. Weaving together cultural, social, economic and psychoanalytic influences, Darian Leader delves into the truth about this universal human experience.