BACKGROUND The safety of sleeping pills has increased dramatically during the last 100 years, from barbiturates to bensodiazepines to modern day so-called Z-drugs. METHODS The circumstances of prescribing sleeping pills in the early 20th century are illustrated by summarizing the main storyline of a novel by Swedish writer Vilhelm Moberg. This is followed by a thought experiment and a theoretical discussion. RESULTS In his 1937 novel Sömnlös (Swedish for sleepless) Vilhelm Moberg portrayed existential and relational distress in relation to insomnia. In a thought experiment, past progresses in sleeping pills safety are projected into the future. Thereby, it is claimed that important issues in the area of philosophy of medicine come to the fore. This leads to a theoretical discussion about broader questions concerning the role of the physician, the goals of medicine (as described by Lennart Nordenfelt), the concept of pharmaceuticalisation (as described notably by sociologist of sleep Simon J. Williams and co-workers), and health enhancement (c.f. Carl Elliott and the alleged wish to be better than well). CONCLUSION Insomnia is a prism through which important philosophical and sociological questions related to the practice of medicine can be asked.

中文翻译：

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生命的药物化？一个虚构的失眠案例报告和一个思想实验。

背景技术安眠药的安全性在过去 100 年中急剧增加，从巴比妥类药物到苯二氮卓类药物，再到现代所谓的 Z 类药物。方法 通过总结瑞典作家 Vilhelm Moberg 的小说的主要故事情节来说明 20 世纪初开具安眠药的情况。接下来是思想实验和理论讨论。结果 在他 1937 年的小说 Sömnlös（瑞典语中不眠不休）中，Vilhelm Moberg 描绘了与失眠有关的存在和关系困扰。在一项思想实验中，过去在安眠药安全方面取得的进展被预测到了未来。因此，据称医学哲学领域的重要问题脱颖而出。这导致了关于医生角色的更广泛问题的理论讨论，医学的目标（如 Lennart Nordenfelt 所描述的）、药物化的概念（如睡眠社会学家 Simon J. Williams 及其同事所描述的）和健康增强（参见 Carl Elliott 和所谓的“好于好”的愿望）。结论失眠是一个棱镜，通过它可以提出与医学实践相关的重要哲学和社会学问题。