Arousal in Nocturnal Consciousness: How Dream- and Sleep-Experiences May Inform Us of Poor Sleep Quality, Stress, and Psychopathology.
Frontiers in Psychology May 10, 2017 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00733 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Qualitative Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Measures | Iowa Sleep Experiences Survey (ISES) |
| Topics | Dreaming |
| Keywords | Psychopathology Distress Nightmares Sleep quality Sleep experiences Sleep-wake disorders Hypnagogic hallucinations |
| Key findings | Argues that "general sleep experiences"—a factor comprising nightmares, vivid or recurrent dreams, hypnagogic hallucinations, and confusional arousals—are strongly related to psychological distress and should be viewed as a sleep disturbance. Proposes these experiences reflect involuntary intrusions of wakefulness into sleep, possibly stemming from thin boundaries between consciousness states or from dissociation, and contends that the intrusive versus controlled quality of unusual dreaming may explain why general sleep experiences relate to psychopathology while lucid dreams relate to resilience. |
Abstract
The term "sleep experiences," coined by Watson (2001), denotes an array of unusual nocturnal consciousness phenomena; for example, nightmares, vivid or recurrent dreams, hypnagogic hallucinations, dreams of falling or flying, confusional arousals, and lucid dreams. Excluding the latter, these experiences reflect a single factor of atypical oneiric cognitions ("general sleep experiences"). The current study is an opinionated mini-review on the associations of this factor-measured with the Iowa sleep experiences survey (ISES, Watson, 2001)-with psychopathological symptoms and stress. Findings support a strong relation between psychological distress and general sleep experiences. It is suggested that that they should be viewed as a sleep disturbance; they seem to represent involuntary intrusions of wakefulness into sleep, resulting in aroused sleep. These intrusions may stem from excessively thin boundaries between consciousness states (e.g., "transliminality"), or, conversely, they may follow an attempt at disconnecting mental elements (e.g., dissociation), which paradoxically results in a "rebound effect." The extent to which unusual dreaming is experienced as intrusive, rather than controlled, may explain why general sleep experiences are related to psychopathology, whereas lucid dreams are related to psychological resilience. In conclusion, the exploration of the interplay between psychopathology and sleep should be expanded from focusing almost exclusively on quantitative aspects (e.g., sleep efficiency, latency) to including qualitative conscious experiences which may reflect poor sleep quality. Taking into account nocturnal consciousness-including unusual dreaming and permeable sleep-wake boundaries-may unveil rich information on night-time emotional states and broaden our definition of poor sleep quality.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| Sleep and dreaming are for important matters | 2013 | Review | |
| Nightmare Disorder and Isolated Sleep Paralysis | 2020 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| Dream Recall: State or Trait Variable? Part I: Model, Theories, Methodology and Trait Factors | 1996 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 16
- Are Lucid Dreams Good for Us? Are We Asking the Right Question? A Call for Caution in Lucid Dream Research Frontiers in Neuroscience January 24, 2020
- Lucid Dreaming: Intensity, But Not Frequency, Is Inversely Related to Psychopathology Frontiers in Psychology March 22, 2018
- Associations between exploding head syndrome and measures of sleep quality and experiences, dissociation, and well-being Sleep December 13, 2018
- Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and dissociative experiences: Suggested underlying mechanisms and implications for science and practice Frontiers in Psychology March 22, 2023
- Reintroducing Consciousness in Psychopathology: Review of the Literature and Conceptual Framework. Frontiers in Psychology November 17, 2020
and 11 more in the library
Cites 34
- Lucid Dreaming: a State of Consciousness with Features of Both Waking and Non-Lucid Dreaming Sleep September 1, 2009
- The incidence and determinants of visual phenomenology during out-of-body experiences Cortex June 6, 2008
- The effects of suppressing intrusive thoughts on dream content, dream distress and psychological parameters Journal of Sleep Research May 16, 2013
- Personality Correlates of Flying Dreams Imagination, Cognition and Personality October 1, 2007
- Relationship between dissociative experiences, abnormal sleep experiences, and sleep quality in undergraduate students Dusunen Adam: The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences June 30, 2010
and 29 more in the library