Charles Dickens: observer of sleep and its disorders

Sleep. 1992 Jun;15(3):264-7. doi: 10.1093/sleep/15.3.264.

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.

Publication types

  • Biography
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • England
  • Famous Persons*
  • History, 19th Century
  • Humans
  • Literature, Modern / history*
  • Medicine in Literature*
  • Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders / history*
  • Sleep Wake Disorders / history*
  • Sleep*

Personal name as subject

  • C Dickens