The effect of trimipramine on dream recall and dream emotions in depressive outpatients.

Trimipramine, a sedating tricyclic antidepressant effective for both depression and primary insomnia, does not affect rapid eye movement sleep unlike most other antidepressants. In a large sample of 3,926 depressive outpatients, treatment over four weeks produced a considerable shift in dream emotions toward the positive end of the scale, paralleling a decrease in symptom severity. The effect on dream recall was small and may be explained by a reduction in negatively toned dreams. These findings support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming, showing a close link between waking-life symptomatology and negative dream emotions.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Trimipramine is a sedating tricyclic antidepressant which is not only effective in the treatment of depression but also in primary insomnia. In contrast to most other antidepressants, trimipramine does not affect rapid eye movement sleep. In a large sample of depressive outpatients (N = 3926), the effect of trimipramine on dream recall and dream emotions was studied. The effect of trimipramine on dream recall was small and might be explained by the reduction of negatively toned dreams. The 4-week treatment with trimipramine yielded a considerable shift in dream emotions towards the positive end of the scale, which is paralleled by the decrease of symptom severity. The present findings support the continuity hypothesis of dreaming by demonstrating a close link between waking-life symptomatolgy and negative dream emotions. Future studies should analyze dream content in order to support the hypothesis that improvement in day-time symptoms is reflected in patients' dreams.