#162 -Sleep in the Gilded Age: If You Know Your History

Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter

Fitness Medicine Chris Winter Go To Sleep Insomnia Narcolepsy Dreams Circadian Circadianrhythm Restless Snore CPAP

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In our modern world of blue light and burnout, it’s easy to forget that sleep has always been shaped by the forces of its time. In this episode, we travel back to the Gilded Age—a period of dazzling progress, deep inequality, and curious beliefs about sleep. In thenis episode, we will:

Explore how medical professionals in the late 19th century understood sleep—and misunderstood insomnia
Learn what physicians were prescribing to sleepless patients in an era of opium, electricity, and moral fatigue
Contrast the sleep practices of the working poor and the wealthy elite, and how each class shaped our modern assumptions
Examine the “rest cure,” neurasthenia, and other diagnoses born from a world grappling with industrial change
Discover the surprising technologies and bedding innovations that started appearing in Gilded Age bedrooms
Reflect on how beliefs from this gilded era still echo in our bedrooms today—from sleep hygiene to the fear of lying awake

Produced by: Maeve Winter
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