Abstract
This paper reports on a study of sleep amongst men and women who are living in residential rehabilitation centres in the UK and who are receiving support for their recovery from addiction to alcohol and other forms of substance use. Conceptually and methodologically, the paper draws on the work of the French sociologist Lefebvre and, in particular, his rhythmanalysis. We argue that this approach offers a useful way of exploring sleep in terms of biological, experiential, temporal, spatial and social rhythms. It also has the potential to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue. Empirical data comprising qualitative interviews with 28 individuals, sleep diaries, and actigraphy reports (which measure movement as a proxy for sleep) are examined in combination to generate insights into the challenges associated with sleep in recovery from substance misuse. We examine how sleep in recovery involves an alignment of the spatiotemporal rhythms of rehabilitation and the multiple embodied rhythms of individuals. Institutionalised routines reproduce and impose ideas of day/night sleep cycles which are presumed to accord with ‘natural’ circadian rhythms. Although study participants very much want to achieve these ‘natural hegemonies’ of sleep, alignment of individual and institutional rhythms is difficult to achieve. We develop the notion of ‘sleep waves’ as an analytic to capture the multifaceted elements of sleep and to argue that sleep waves recur but are also shaped by complex networks of rhythms, rituals and routines. Sleep waves can become relatively stabilised in rehabilitation settings, but the anticipation of moving on disturbs rhythms and generates anxieties which can affect recovery.
Highlights
We find that across disciplines there is an emphasis on the play between multiple endogenous and exogenous rhythms indicating scope for the analysis of sleep as embodied: viscerally and socially
Throughout our analysis we play with the idea of sleep waves as a foil to the neurophysiological articulation of the term as used in the vocabulary of ‘circadian rhythms’ and ‘slow wave sleep’
A LANGUAGE OF RHYTHMS: THE CIRCADIAN AND ENTRAINMENT Sleep scientists work on the premise that sleep combines two interrelated processes: sleep pressure which increases as individuals remain awake and decreases as they sleep, and circadian rhythm which is unaffected by sleep deprivation (Borbely 1982)
Summary
E find that across disciplines there is an emphasis on the play between multiple endogenous (internal) and exogenous (external) rhythms indicating scope for the analysis of sleep as embodied: viscerally and socially. Throughout our analysis we play with the idea of sleep waves as a foil to the neurophysiological articulation of the term as used in the vocabulary of ‘circadian rhythms’ and ‘slow wave sleep’ We introduce these terms that are core to sleep science and turn to Lefebvre’s conceptualisation of rhythms and waves, and suggest that a sociological notion of sleep waves serves to capture the extent to which sleep is repetitive and rhythmic and always a combination of biological and social contingencies. These genes are implicated in reward processing, with clinical scientists suggesting that their continued disruption may contribute to persistent craving and withdrawal (Hasler et al 2012; 2014) Despite this focus on endogenous processes, the model of sleep underpinning this research remains one which talks of both internal and external rhythms. Lefebvre most effectively communicates this idea of rhythm through the use of a maritime metaphor
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