April/1998
|
SLEEP RIGHT IN FIVE NIGHTS: A CLEAR AND EFFECTIVE GUIDE FOR CONQUERING INSOMNIA
James Perl, PhD (Morrow, 1993, 320 pp., $20)
Reviewed by Lynne Lamberg
|
|
Perl, a psychologist who practices in Boulder, Colorado, asserts "sleep problems can be divided into two basic categories: The first is insomnia; the second comprises all other sleep disorders." He explains sleep stages and physiology, then provides a 26-item diagnostic questionnaire focusing on both waking and sleep, briefly and clearly explaining the significance of each question.
He offers "solutions for the eight major causes of insomnia" (aging; medical conditions and medication effects; sleeping pills, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine; depression; stress and anxiety; sleep-wake rhythms; conditioned insomnia.)
The title section, "Sleep right in five nights," provides a good review of currently used non-drug therapies. It includes a chapter on how to prepare for bedtime ("nap in the afternoon only if it doesn't interfere with your nighttime sleep;" "if you tend to worry in bed, set up an alternate worry time,") and one on what to do in bed ("read or watch TV in bed if it helps you relax and fall asleep; if it stimulates you, do it
in another room.")
You know the sources of this advice; it's disturbing, therefore, not to find Hauri's or Bootzin's names here. The author thanks these experts and many others in an acknowledgments section at the beginning of the book, but there's no value to readers in that. There are no references at the end of the book and no bibliography.
|
|
-Current Month- -Archives- -Author List- -About Lynne Lamberg- Copyright © 2000
Websciences |