title: Watchers in the night: an anthropological look at sleep disorders.
abstract: An anthropological point of view is introduced to explain the origin of sleep disorders. Four groups of sufferers are discussed: (1) Those that fail to maintain primary relationships; (2) those that feel increased vulnerability during the night; (3) those who have failed to separate or individuate; and (4) those who show a higher arousability than sound sleepers. A case example is offered for each group. A description of sleeping arrangements of the Kung San people of the Kalahari desert; speculations of the need for arousability in primitive society to prevent predators from attacking serve to bolster the view point. A theory that suggests that sleep disorders in children are caused by Western sleeping arrangements, encouraging mother and child to sleep apart, is challenged.
authors.affiliation: Gwinnett Center for Counseling and Family Therapy, Lilburn, GA 30247.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Ellis
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D001010:Anxiety, Separation / Q000523:psychology; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D012890:Sleep; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology