![]() ![]() Many people only learn about the symptoms and impact of sleep disorders through pop culture and film. The narrator in Fight Club pretends to have other illnesses to receive therapy for insomnia.Įxplainer: what is insomnia and what can you do about it? Regardless of profession, not getting enough sleep at night can substantially impact cognitive function, increasing the chance of making a mistake. Something these exaggerated portrayals do well is highlight the impact sleep deprivation can have on safety, albeit extremely dramatised. Insomnia is often caused by more mundane things like too much stress, lifestyle and habits, or longer daylight hours at higher latitudes (such as in Insomnia, 2002). While it’s true other medical conditions including mental illnesses can lead to insomnia, insomnia often exists on its own. Yet these portrayals of insomnia as something more severe or threatening, like psychosis, can increase anxiety or stigma among people living with insomnia. It’s understandable why Hollywood latches onto these extreme portrayals – to entertain us. Hollywood’s focus on extreme cases of insomnia is a recurring pattern (for instance, Fight Club 1999, Lucid 2005). In The Machinist, the main character has paranoia, hallucinations and delusions. It’s only towards the end of the movie we learn his insomnia may be the result of a psychiatric disorder, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. The main character is emaciated, ostracised and plagued by paranoia, hallucinations and delusions. Here, insomnia is often used as an enigma to keep the audience guessing about which events are real or figments of a character’s imagination. These movies tend to be psychological thrillers. These usually feature insomnia as a symptom of another condition rather than a disorder itself, as is commonly experienced. 'Gay guys can do missionary?' - how Red, White & Royal Blue brings queer intimacy to mainstream audiencesīut most Hollywood portrayals of insomnia tend to depict the most extreme cases. Or it can fuel the misconception having insomnia may be beneficial, as in Insomnia Is Good for You (1957). It shows insomnia is an invisible illness, doesn’t have obvious visual symptoms and anyone can have it.īut this can perpetuate the expectation someone with insomnia should be able to function unencumbered. ![]() That said, minimising the impact of insomnia can have benefits. ![]() However, we never see any meaningful impact on his life or depiction of the difficulty living with insomnia entails. We’re briefly told he struggles to fall asleep at night. Nicholas Galitzine’s character in the recent romcom Red, White and Royal Blue (2023) has insomnia. People living with insomnia felt their sleep concerns were often trivialised or misunderstood by health-care professionals, and stigmatised by others.Ī memoir of sleeplessness posits making peace with our ruptured nights – but risks becoming an exhausting read From early in the day, people plan how they can improve their sleep that night. So what is it like living with insomnia? Apart from the effects of poor sleep quality, many people experience anxiety or dread about the night ahead from the moment they wake up. At home, you might be irritable or short with your friends and family. It can also affect your mental health.Īt work, you might be more prone to accidents, more forgetful, or make poorer decisions. Insomnia can impact your ability to stay awake and alert during the day. It’s a common misconception that insomnia is only a night-time issue. Insomnia is a common sleep disorder where a person struggles to fall asleep, stay asleep, or wakes up too early – despite having adequate opportunity for sleep.Īround 5% of adults experience significant insomnia to the degree that it causes distress or impairs daily life. And these portrayals have implications for the estimated one in three of us with at least one insomnia symptom.Ī short history of insomnia and how we became obsessed with sleep Insomnia is rarely depicted as a treatable illness. Hollywood appears fascinated by sleep’s impact on the mind and body.īlockbuster movies featuring someone living with insomnia include Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Fight Club (1999) and Insomnia (2002).īut how well do these and other portrayals compare with what it’s really like to live with insomnia?Īs we’ll see, most movies tend to either minimise or exaggerate symptoms. This article is part of The Conversation’s six-part series on insomnia, which charts the rise of insomnia during industrialisation to sleep apps today. ![]()
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