SOMNIQUEST: The Five Types of Sleeplessness and How to Overcome Them

by Alice Kuhn & Norms S. Aaron Schwartz ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1979

Sleep therapists Schwartz and Aaron identify five types of insomnia--essentially delayed, interrupted, short, light, and troubled sleep--and offer widely overlapping lists of recommendations for overcoming each. Like Trubo (1976) and Dement (1978), they review pertinent theories and findings (Freud's dream interpretation, Penfield's brain mapping, the stages of sleep), recommend psychotherapy for depression and medical treatment for sleep disorders such as narcolepsy and somnambulism, but concentrate on the direct attack: exercise, earlier rising, bedtime ritual, getting out of bed when insomnia persists (but avoiding ""comforts"" such as food and TV)--or, if fear of death is your problem, cultivating a sexy appearance for bed. Like other sleep counselors they reject drugs as a solution; they're fatal at worst, temporary at best, and aggravate insomnia in the long run. Instead, a diet rich in the amino acid tryptophan (high in meat and cheese) plus carbohydrate snacks at bedtime can function as a natural soporific. A practical synthesis, with much recapitulation of directives for those who would skip the theory.

Pub Date: April 1, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harmony

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION