Pharmaceutical Technologies of the Self, or The Age of Ambien

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Document

While much has been said about new technologies of the self and how they change us, there are a limited amount of studies that examine how specific medications or specific disorders are related to conceptions and articulations of self. A wealth of theoretical work and social criticism about the management of selves has explored claims that humans are becoming pharmaceutical selves. New technologies of self-making, including institutional health campaigns, scientific calibrations of “normal” and “abnormal” sleep, suggestions of health care professionals, and direct-to-consumer marketing of pharmaceuticals, compel individuals to assess their sleep habits, maximize their sleep potentials, and “reclaim” their selves with a drug. This study seeks to better understand these scientific technologies and their dynamic relations to the experience of self and self-making. It uses the case of insomnia and the pharmaceutical treatment, Ambien, to explore the ways these technologies operate.

    Item Description
    Name(s)
    Date
    April 15, 2012
    Extent
    124 pages
    Language
    eng
    Genre
    Physical Form
    electronic
    Rights and Use
    In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted
    Digital Collection
    PID
    ir:1795