{"title":"No nighttime I can own: The experience of insomnia expressed through poetry","authors":"Anna Joyce , Sam Illingworth","doi":"10.1016/j.sleep.2025.106834","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Insomnia is a chronic sleep disorder associated with difficulty sleeping and a significant deleterious impact on daytime function and quality of life. This novel study investigates the experience of insomnia, and the impact and coping strategies expressed via the creative medium of poetry.</div><div>A total of 33 poems containing the word ‘insomnia’ were selected from The Poetry Foundation and analysed using poetic content analysis; a qualitative inductive technique that involved coding meaning units to the poetry, which were then categorised and agreed between the two authors.</div><div>The final agreed categories were: Coping Strategies and Mental Engagement, which reflected a range of standard and non-standard treatments and thoughts; Physical Experiences and Reactions, such as discomfort; Socio-Emotional Dynamics and Life Impact, such as emotional impact and relationships; Environment and Temporal Factors, including the sleeping area and house, and the passage of time; and Sleep, which included dreams and nightmares, and the lack thereof.</div><div>Themes broadly represented the biopsychosocial model, which then served as a framework for interpreting the study's findings. The study provided an interesting and novel approach to investigating the creative expression of insomnia, and could be further developed by soliciting poetry from contemporary poets to provide a more immediate and diverse range of experiences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":21874,"journal":{"name":"Sleep medicine","volume":"136 ","pages":"Article 106834"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sleep medicine","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S138994572500509X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Insomnia is a chronic sleep disorder associated with difficulty sleeping and a significant deleterious impact on daytime function and quality of life. This novel study investigates the experience of insomnia, and the impact and coping strategies expressed via the creative medium of poetry.
A total of 33 poems containing the word ‘insomnia’ were selected from The Poetry Foundation and analysed using poetic content analysis; a qualitative inductive technique that involved coding meaning units to the poetry, which were then categorised and agreed between the two authors.
The final agreed categories were: Coping Strategies and Mental Engagement, which reflected a range of standard and non-standard treatments and thoughts; Physical Experiences and Reactions, such as discomfort; Socio-Emotional Dynamics and Life Impact, such as emotional impact and relationships; Environment and Temporal Factors, including the sleeping area and house, and the passage of time; and Sleep, which included dreams and nightmares, and the lack thereof.
Themes broadly represented the biopsychosocial model, which then served as a framework for interpreting the study's findings. The study provided an interesting and novel approach to investigating the creative expression of insomnia, and could be further developed by soliciting poetry from contemporary poets to provide a more immediate and diverse range of experiences.
期刊介绍:
Sleep Medicine aims to be a journal no one involved in clinical sleep medicine can do without.
A journal primarily focussing on the human aspects of sleep, integrating the various disciplines that are involved in sleep medicine: neurology, clinical neurophysiology, internal medicine (particularly pulmonology and cardiology), psychology, psychiatry, sleep technology, pediatrics, neurosurgery, otorhinolaryngology, and dentistry.
The journal publishes the following types of articles: Reviews (also intended as a way to bridge the gap between basic sleep research and clinical relevance); Original Research Articles; Full-length articles; Brief communications; Controversies; Case reports; Letters to the Editor; Journal search and commentaries; Book reviews; Meeting announcements; Listing of relevant organisations plus web sites.