Prescriptions and proscriptions: moralising sleep medicines

Date

2015-11-20

Advisors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Wiley

Type

Article

Peer reviewed

Yes

Abstract

The pharmaceuticalisation of sleep is a contentious issue. Sleep medicines get a‘bad press’due to their potential for dependence and other side effects, including studies reporting increased mortality risks for long-term users. Yet relatively little qualitative social science research has been conducted into how people understandand negotiate their use/non-use of sleep medicines in the context of their everyday lives. This paper draws on focus group data collected in the UK to elicit collective views on and experiences of prescription hypnotics across different social contexts.Respondents, we show, drew on a range of moral repertoires which allowed them to present themselves and their relationships with hypnotics in different ways. Six distinct repertoires about hypnotic use are identified in this regard: the ‘deserving’ patient, the ‘responsible’ user, the ‘compliant’ patient, the ‘addict’, the ‘sinful’ user and the ‘noble’ non user. These users and non-users are constructed drawing on cross-cutting themes of addiction and control, ambivalence and reflexivity. Such issues are in turn discussed in relation to recent sociological debates on the pharmaceuticalisation/de-pharmaceuticalisation of everyday life and the consumption of medicines in the UK today.

Description

This work was carried out with colleagues at the University of Warwick and Royal Holloway, University of London. Open access article

Keywords

sleep, pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical companies, drugs, medication

Citation

Gabe, J., Coveney, C. M., and Williams, S. J. (2016) Prescriptions and proscriptions: moralising sleep medicines. Sociology of health & illness, 38 (4), pp. 627-644

Rights

Research Institute