Forensic Aspects of Sleep Book

Sleep medicine is a rapidly growing specialism. The role of sleepiness and sleep disorder in psychiatry and psychopharmacology is already well recognised but sleep issues play an increasing role in litigation relating to behavioural problems, mental competence and accidents. This means that professionals in psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry now need a greater awareness of the relevant legal issues and lawyers themselves increasingly need to understand more about sleep medicine. Edited by experts in their field, this book first briefly describes normal and abnormal patterns of sleep the importance of sleep for effective human functioning, dissociative states, alertness and drug-related sleepiness. It then discusses the implications of sleep medicine in a wide range of legal contexts, including criminal responsibility, employment, and civil liability for negligence. Written in a style accessible to both medical and legal specialists, the book has an international approach and will be an invaluable resource for psychiatrists, psychopharmacologists and professionals in medical law.