ABSTRACT This paper presents some unusual behaviors observed in one single specimen of O. insularis . While nothing can be concluded rigorously from such data, we share the data and our analysis with the community, in the hope that others will be on the lookout for such rare events. Sleep is a fundamental biological function that is present in all tested vertebrates and most invertebrates....
Sleep paralysis and lucid dreams are two states of consciousness that are connected to REM sleep but are defined by higher awareness in contrast to regular REM sleep. Despite these similarities, the two states differ widely in their emotional tone and their perceived controllability. This review aims to summarize the current research containing sleep paralysis and lucid dreams. However, given...
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the subjective experience of dreams, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Specifically, the study aimed to explore whether the subjective experience of dreams, including how often dreams are remembered, the presence of nightmares, and the way in which a person thinks about dreams, could influence the occurrence of subjective...
BMC PsychiatryMay 5, 2023Stefan Roepke, Nikola Schoofs, Kathlen Priebe et al.
Distressing nightmares are a core symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and contribute to psychiatric comorbidity, impaired physical health and decreased social functioning. No specific pharmacological treatment for PTSD-related nightmares is yet approved. Preliminary clinical data indicate that cannabinoid agonists can improve nightmares and overall PTSD symptoms in patients with...
Depersonalisation (DP) is characterized by fundamental alterations to the sense of self that include feelings of detachment and estrangement from one’s body. We conducted an online study in healthy participants (n=514) with DP traits to investigate and quantify the subjective experience of body and self during waking and dreaming, as the vast majority of previous studies focussed on waking...
Abstract Introduction Observational research demonstrates a strong association between nightmares, insomnia, and sleep apnea in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), supportive of the notion of a “complex sleep disturbance”. Relations between sleep disturbances and PTSD are often bi-directional and disturbed sleep affects non-sleep PTSD outcomes. We aimed to examine relationships...
The incidence and clinical significance of nightmares is difficult to estimate due to varying criteria across studies. The Nightmare Disorder Index (NDI) is a validated measure to evaluate nightmare disorder. However, there is no measure to differentiate trauma-related nightmares compared to trauma associated sleep disorder (TSD), a unique REM parasomnia. The objectives of this study were to...
Nightmares are a critical component of multidimensional sleep health. Frequent nightmare recallers suffer reduced sleep length, depressed mood, and are more likely to be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder in the future. Reliable population estimates of nightmare frequency are difficult to obtain and often restricted to rigid timepoints (e.g., once per year). Thus, there is a need for...
Introduction: Nightmare disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-associated nightmares can be treatment-resistant in many patients. There are no recommended treatments for these conditions currently. Methods: NightWare is a novel FDA-approved class II medical device which improves sleep in patients with nightmare disorder and PTSD-associated nightmares. It uses data from a smart watch...
SleepMay 1, 2023Elizabeth F. Rasmussen, Emily J. Ricketts, Daniel S. Joyce et al.
Abstract Introduction Adverse childhood experiences can increase likelihood of hyperarousal, especially around periods of vulnerability. Survivors of trauma also experience more nightmares. These data explore whether adverse childhood events are associated with adult insomnia severity and nightmares. Methods Data were obtained from the Sleep and Healthy Activity, Diet, Environment, and...
Abstract Introduction The incidence of nightmares and dreams during clinically indicated polysomnography (PSG) is rarely reported. We sought to (1) describe the incidence of nightmares and dreams during PSG, (2) PSG characteristics of nightmares and dreams, and (3) identify clinical correlates. Methods Ninety-three patients undergoing an initial clinically indicated PSG had a post-PSG and...
Maladaptive daydreaming (MD) is a compulsive form of daydreaming that causes distress and functional impairment. We present the first treatment trial for MD. We tested the effectiveness of an eight-session internet-based self-help training for mindfulness and self-monitoring and compared three groups across three measurement points in time. A sample of 557 people was randomly assigned. A total...
PsychotherapyApril 27, 2023Patricia T. Spangler, Wonjin Sim
In this article, we describe methods for working with dreams and nightmares in individual psychotherapy, provide clinical examples, and review research evidence of immediate and distal outcomes of each method. An original meta-analysis of eight studies using the cognitive-experiential dream model with 514 clients showed moderate effect sizes for session depth and insight gains. In the nightmare...
BACKGROUND: As nightmares may be a risk factor for, or symptom of, multiple psychological disorders, some researchers suggest that nightmares should be screened, diagnosed, and treated. Treatments for nightmares include trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Image Rehearsal Therapy, and pharmacological interventions such as prazosin and nitrazepam. As recent research has put into...
Memories of waking-life events are incorporated into dreams, but their incorporation is not uniform across a night of sleep. This study aimed to elucidate ways in which such memory sources vary by sleep stage and time of night. Twenty healthy participants (11 F; 24.1 ± 5.7 years) spent a night in the laboratory and were awakened for dream collection approximately 12 times spread across early,...
Nightmares are a very common experience in the general population, with approximately 35%– 45% of individuals experiencing at least one nightmare per month.1 Nightmare disorder, which is characterized by repeated nightmares causing significant distress or impairment, is less frequent but still common, affecting 2%– 8% of the general population.1 Nightmare disorders are highly comorbid with...
Dreams are often viewed as fascinating but irrelevant mental epihenomena of the sleeping mind with questionable functional relevance. Despite long hours of oneiric activity, and high individual differences in dream recall, dreams are lost into oblivion. Here, we conceptualize dreaming and dream amnesia as inherent aspects of the reactive and predictive homeostatic functions of sleep. Mental...
Improving motor performance without physical movements might seem counterintuitive, however, decades of research on mental practice have demonstrated its feasibility. The phenomenon of lucid dreaming – i.e. becoming aware of the current dream state during ongoing sleep – bears some resemblance to mental practice: behaviors such as motor tasks can be intentionally simulated with mental imagery....
Dreaming is often connected with religious ideas and enjoys distinct epistemic status as a source of trusted information for divinatory practices—oneiromancy. These tendencies suggest the existence of a distinct content affordance relevance for dream divination, hypothesized in the “CARDD theory.” CARDD theory predicts that dreams containing nightmarish and threatening content, omission of...
Epic dreaming is a type of disturbed dreaming described as experiencing daytime fatigue after dreaming all night. To investigate whether such phenomena is simply a vivid dream or more of a disturbing nightmare, we are going to look at the physiological and psychological aspect of epic dreaming patients along the behaviors of nightmares. By comparison, we see a similarity of inclination towards...