Models of dream analysis either assume a continuum of waking and dreaming or the existence of two dissociated realities. Both approaches rely on different methodology. Whereas continuity models are based on content analysis, discontinuity models use a structural approach. In our study, we applied both methods to test specific hypotheses about continuity or discontinuity. We contrasted dream...
Nightmares are a common disorder with serious consequences. Recently, the cognitive behavioral interventions Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) and exposure proved effective in a self-help format. The aim of the current study was to compare the following self-help formats to a waiting-list: IRT; IRT with sleep hygiene; and IRT with sleep hygiene and a lucid dreaming section....
Dreaming, daydreaming, and thinking are done by people, and people differ in all sorts of ways. Different people think differently and they dream differently as well. This is so obvious as to hardly be worth mentioning. But are there systematic differences? Can aspects of personality be related to dreaming? Early studies suggested little relation between dreaming and measures of personality....
Periodicity, hallucinatory phenomena and lack of awareness of one’s detachment from reality seem to connect the subjective experience of dreaming to that of psychosis. Both can be considered fully conscious states of the brain/mind, with an immediate influence of non-conscious elements caused by an impaired interaction with the external world. Psychological and pharmacological induction of...
In this essay, we develop our working hypothesis that consciousness in primates and humans is a state-dependent commodity that has at least two expressions. Waking and dreaming are two such states that differ in conscious awareness. In both states, we are perceptive and emotional. Whereas in dreaming, our thoughts are delusional, however, waking consciousness potentiates volition and...
Based on biological realism, that is, the philosophical assumption that consciousness is a real natural biological phenomenon in the brain, we argue that dreaming is a pure form of phenomenality, and suggest that the dreaming brain could be used as a model system for consciousness. The dreaming brain offers the most challenging model system that represents all the theoretically and...
In 1978,1 a new neuroscience-based model of hallucinations was proposed in this journal. The premise of this model was that hallucinatory experiences are necessarily produced by self-generated neural activity. Their pathology does not lie in the fact that they are self-generated. Much, if not most, of our mental experience results from endogenous or “spontaneous” neural activity. Hallucinations...
AbstractOne hundred twenty‐four male Vietnam War veterans with chronic, severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were randomly assigned to imagery rehearsal (n = 61) or a credible active comparison condition (n = 63) for the treatment of combat‐related nightmares. There was pre‐post change in overall sleep quality and PTSD symptoms for both groups, but not in nightmare frequency....
Following exposure to traumatic events, approximately 19% of combat veterans develop posttraumatic stress disorder. One of the main symptoms of this mental illness is reexperiencing the trauma, which is commonly expressed in the form of chronic trauma-related nightmares. In these patients, nightmares can fragment sleep, decrease sleep quality, and even cause fear about going to sleep. One...
Despite the large number of studies addressing gender differences in dream recall and dream content, research regarding whether these differences might be affected by sex role orientation is rather scarce. The present online-survey included a large sample of most recent dreams. The results clearly indicate that sex role orientation (femininity/expressivity and masculinity/instrumentality)...
Nightmares are a common feature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are frequently resistant to treatment. Two emerging treatments for nightmares are pharmacotherapy with prazosin and psychotherapy using imagery rehearsal (IR). A case illustration demonstrates the application of these treatments with a client suffering from chronic, severe PTSD. The case illustrates the use of these...
Microstructural analyses by MRI brain scans and by DTI analysis of MR images were used to investigate the possible relationship between deep gray matter structures (amygdala and hippocampus) and dreaming in healthy subjects. Thirty-four subjects ranging in age 20s to 70s underwent to a MRI protocol for the assessment of volume and mean diffusivity (MD) in the amygdala and hippocampus and were...
Prazosin is recommended for treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-associated nightmares. Level A. Image Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) is recommended for treatment of nightmare disorder. Level A. Systematic Desensitization and Progressive Deep Muscle Relaxation training are suggested for treatment of idiopathic nightmares. Level B. Venlafaxine is not suggested for treatment of...
Very little is known about dreams in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, especially regarding changes over the course of treatment with stimulus exposure and response prevention. By use of dream content analysis, 40 dreams of 9 obsessive compulsive (OC) inpatients were compared with 84 dreams of 10 matched OC outpatients and 63 dreams of 11 healthy control participants. Dream protocols...
STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of frequent nightmares and their correlates in a large community-based cohort of middle-aged Hong Kong Chinese. DESIGN: A 2-phase design involving a cross-sectional survey of 8558 subjects (men, 47.6%) with a mean age of 40.9 years (SD 5.5, range 20-78) and subsequently followed by a detailed clinical evaluation of the psychopathology and...
Behavior TherapyJune 1, 2010Carla M Nappi, Sean P A Drummond, Steven R Thorp et al.
Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) has been shown to be efficacious in reducing nightmares, but the treatment has not been well-studied in veterans. The effectiveness of IRT was assessed from a chart review of veterans seeking outpatient treatment for chronic, trauma-related nightmares. Of those offered IRT, veterans who completed a full course of treatment for PTSD in the past year were more...
A 39-year-old male presented on 14 December to the emergency department with a history of five suicide attempts in the previous week. He had three previous admissions to psychiatric wards with vary...
Although sleep is widely investigated in children with ADHD, dream studies in this group are completely lacking. The continuity hypothesis of dreaming stating that waking life is reflected in dreams would predict that waking-life symptoms are reflected in the dreams of such children. 103 children with ADHD and 100 controls completed a dream questionnaire eliciting dream recall frequency and the...
Background and Objectives: Previous studies reported a high prevalence of nightmares and dream anxiety in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and the severity of dream disturbances correlated with daytime symptoms of psychopathology. However, the majority of these results are based on retrospective questionnaire-based study designs, and hence the effect of recall biases (characteristic for...