The Future of Sleep (and Dream) Medicine
R. Naiman
June 1, 2021 DOI: 10.1093/med/9780190885403.003.0037 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that sleep medicine's future lies in an integrative approach that treats sleep health as inseparable from general health, emphasizing promotion and prevention, and integrating conventional with complementary medicine, objectivity with phenomenology, and waking consciousness with sleep and dreams. |
Abstract
Envisioning the future of sleep medicine begins with an examination of the limitations imposed by our presumptions about sleep itself. Damaged by the overarching sociocultural forces of denaturation, industrialization, and medicalization, the tenets of integrative medicine provide a foundation for imagining a radically transformed sense of sleep and more effective approaches to managing sleep loss. With a greater recognition that we cannot separate what supports healthy sleep and dreams from what supports our general health, the future will emphasize sleep health promotion and prevention. The future of sleep medicine will be integrative in the broadest sense of the term. Beyond the integration of conventional with complementary and alternative medicine, it will likely encourage a richer integration of objectivity and phenomenology, the individual and the natural world, and waking consciousness with sleep and dreams.