title: Charles Dickens: observer of sleep and its disorders.
abstract: Using the characters of his novels as the canvas, Charles Dickens painted vivid word pictures of a variety of manifestations of sleep and its disorders. These were presumably based on the author's own experiences and those of family and friends. Dickens was, himself, a self-confessed episodic insomniac. For this he devised the unique therapy of long night walks. This article illustrates, by a few selected quotations, this hitherto unpublicized aspect of the author's life and works.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Wentworth Hospital, Durban, Natal, South Africa.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Cosnett
mesh_terms: D004739:England; D005197:Famous Persons; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008093:Literature, Modern / Q000266:history*; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D012890:Sleep; D007319:Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / Q000266:history*; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000266:history*