A word on Neurosis

Neurosis was coined by the Scottish doctor William Cullen in 1769 to refer to "disorders of sense and motion" caused by a "general affection of the nervous system". For him, it described various nervous disorders and symptoms that could not be explained physiologically. It derives from the Greek word "νεῦρον" (neuron, "nerve") with the suffix -osis (diseased or abnormal condition).

The term was however most influentially defined by Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud over a century later. It has continued to be used in contemporary theoretical writing in psychology and philosophy.

There are many forms of neurosis: obsessive–compulsive disorder, anxiety neurosis, hysteria (in which anxiety may be discharged through a physical symptom), and a nearly endless variety of phobias as well as obsessions such as pyromania.

According to C. George Boeree, professor emeritus at Shippensburg University, effects of neurosis can involve:

...anxiety, sadness or depression, anger, irritability, mental confusion, low sense of self-worth, etc., behavioral symptoms such as phobic avoidance, vigilance, impulsive and compulsive acts, lethargy, etc., cognitive problems such as unpleasant or disturbing thoughts, repetition of thoughts and obsession, habitual fantasizing, negativity and cynicism, etc. Interpersonally, neurosis involves dependency, aggressiveness, perfectionism, schizoid isolation, socio-culturally inappropriate behaviors, etc.

As an illness, neurosis represents a variety of mental disorders in which emotional distress or unconscious conflict is expressed through various physical, physiological, and mental disturbances, which may include physical symptoms (e.g., hysteria).

The definitive symptom is anxieties. Neurotic tendencies are common and may manifest themselves as depression, acute or chronic anxiety, obsessive–compulsive tendencies, specific phobias, such as social phobia, arachnophobia or any number of other phobias, and some personality disorders: paranoid, schizotypal, borderline, histrionic, avoidant, dependent and obsessive–compulsive.

It has perhaps been most simply defined as a "poor ability to adapt to one's environment, an inability to change one's life patterns, and the inability to develop a richer, more complex, more satisfying personality." Neurosis should not be mistaken for psychosis, which refers to loss of touch with reality, or neuroticism, a fundamental personality trait according to psychological theory.

According to psychoanalytic theory, neuroses may be rooted in ego defense mechanisms, but the two concepts are not synonymous. Defense mechanisms are a normal way of developing and maintaining a consistent sense of self (i.e., an ego), while only those thoughts and behavior patterns that produce difficulties in living should be termed "neuroses".

Main article: Jung's theory of neurosis

Carl Jung found his approach particularly fitting for people who are successfully adjusted by normal social standards, but who nevertheless have issues with the meaning of their life.

I have frequently seen people become neurotic when they content themselves with inadequate or wrong answers to the questions of life (Jung, [1961] 1989:140).

The majority of my patients consisted not of believers but of those who had lost their faith (Jung, [1961] 1989:140).

[Contemporary man] is blind to the fact that, with all his rationality and efficiency, he is possessed by "powers" that are beyond his control. His gods and demons have not disappeared at all; they have merely got new names. They keep him on the run with restlessness, vague apprehensions, psychological complications, an insatiable need for pills, alcohol, tobacco, food – and, above all, a large array of neuroses. (Jung, 1964:82).

Jung found that the unconscious finds expression primarily through an individual's inferior psychological function, whether it is thinking, feeling, sensing, or intuition. The characteristic effects of a neurosis on the dominant and inferior functions are discussed in Psychological Types.

Source: Wikipedia

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This sleep business

The bed is a bundle of paradoxes: we go to it with reluctance, yet we quit it

with regret; we make up our minds every night to leave it early, but we make

up our bodies every morning to keep it late.

                                                                     Charles Caleb Colton

“Sleep is a selfish thing to do. No one can share your sleep”, said Neil Stanley at the British Science Festival at Guildford, the town about thirty miles outside of London.  It is an event where Europen scientists share their findings.

Neil Stanley stunned his audience when he proclaimed, “Sharing a bed with someone you care about is great for sex, but not much else.”  But then again, he has a point, and his study on the subject proved that someone who shared a bed was 50 percent more likely to be disturbed during the night than a person who slept alone.  

He mentioned the adverse effects of poor nights of sleep and their consequences – from divorce to depression to heart disease to ill temperament.  And then he suggested “separate beds” for couples.  Eventually, Neil Stanley became famous for articulating what we had always thought about: That even the loveliest person in the world can turn into an enemy taking up space on a mattress once sleep is at stake.”

Read David K. Randall’s Salon article regarding this thought-provoking issue, and then figure out if separate beds are indeed liberating and if couples who sleep apart are healthier, have happier marriages and strong sex lives.

There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest,

than in all the alcohol ever distilled.

                                                       Edward Lucas

On the business front of sleeplessness, The "sleep-assistance" industry is booming and is expected to keep growing even more in the next few years.. Its estimated revenues for 2012 are expected to surpass $32 billion, an average annual increase of 8.8% a year since 2008. That’s according to a recent report in The Fiscal Times, which offers a description of the sleep economy --   ”including everything from pills, products and medical devices to ‘sleep consultants’ who farm themselves out to hospitals, labs, and sleep centers, to luxe mattresses made with tension-relieving foams.”

A Time article claims that there is a shockingly large number of people who pay for products or services to help them get a healthy dose of sleep at night (or during the day).  The article also cites a Center for Disease Control report that shiows more than 40 million people, or roughly a third of working Americans, are getting insufficient amount of sleep, which is 7 to 9 hours for adults as recommended by the National Sleep Foundation.  In addition, it is estimated that another 10 million to 30 million have trouble getting the rest they need on a regular basis. 

Sleep-deprivation has supposedly become a widespread concern that “Increase the proportion of adults who get sufficient sleep” is one of the stated goals of Healthy People 2020, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program launched in 2010.

Thus, one can only expect a growing number of entrepreneurs and investors intent on developing products or services -- organic more so than drug-based, hopefully -- to provide relief to the sleep-deprived populace.

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Sharing with Project 52 and Our World Tuesday

 Please note:

I very much appreciate my articles and photos appearing on fellow bloggers' sites, popular broadsheets, and local broadcast news segments, but I would appreciate even more a request for permission first.

Thank you!