Medicalization and beyond: the social construction of insomnia and snoring in the news

Health
Simon J WilliamsDeborah Lynn Steinberg

Abstract

What role do the media play in the medicalization of sleep problems? This article, based on a British Academy funded project, uses qualitative textual analysis to examine representations of insomnia and snoring in a large representative sample of newspaper articles taken from the UK national press from the mid-1980s to the present day. Constructed as 'common problems' in the population at large, insomnia and snoring we show are differentially located in terms of medicalizing-healthicizing discourses and debates. Our findings also suggest important differences in the gendered construction of these problems and in terms of tabloid and 'broadsheet' newspaper coverage of these issues. Newspaper constructions of sleep, it is concluded, are complex, depending on both the 'problem' and the paper in question.

References

Apr 16, 2002·BMJ : British Medical Journal·Ray MoynihanDavid Henry
Jul 23, 2004·Sociology of Health & Illness·Simon J Williams
May 5, 2005·Journal of Health and Social Behavior·Peter Conrad
May 1, 2007·Social Science & Medicine·Clive SealeDeborah Steinberg
Nov 1, 2003·Sociology of Health & Illness·Jenny Hislop, Sara Arber

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Citations

Sep 23, 2011·Sleep & Breathing = Schlaf & Atmung·Chung-Hong ChanDaniel K Ng
Dec 7, 2010·Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health·Shona Hilton, Kate Hunt
Jun 18, 2011·American Journal of Public Health·Mairead Eastin MoloneyCatherine R Zimmer
Mar 9, 2013·Sleep Disorders·Constance H FungLara Kierlin
Nov 13, 2012·Social Science & Medicine·Susan VennSara Arber
Dec 17, 2008·Social Science & Medicine·Catherine M CoveneyPaul Martin
Jan 9, 2013·Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria·Eleida Pereira CamargoGilmar Fernandes Prado
Nov 4, 2016·Qualitative Health Research·Dana Zarhin
Dec 9, 2016·Sociology of Health & Illness·Janet M Y CheungPaul H Mason
Apr 8, 2020·Culture, Health & Sexuality·Ingrid YoungLisa McDaid
Jun 10, 2011·Ciência & saúde coletiva·Cristiane Magalhães de Melo, Djenane Ramalho de Oliveira

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