Insomnia; and Other Disorders of Sleep

A clinical and physiological survey of sleep and its disorders that begins with the nature and stages of sleep, bodily and mental changes during the hypnagogic state, and factors that produce natural somnolence. It analyzes causes of wakefulness, including sensory, environmental, metabolic, vascular, and nervous disorders and the effects of stimulants and narcotics. Practical remedies and interventions are reviewed—hygiene, baths, massage, electrical and topical measures, and various sedatives and stimulants—followed by guidance on managing insomnia across specific diseases and life stages. The work closes with an examination of dreaming, hallucinations, and drug- and disease-induced alterations of perception and memory.