The influence of impactful dreams on self-perceptual depth and spiritual transformation.

Two studies contrasted the short-term effects of nightmares, existential dreams, and transcendent dreams (Busink & Kuiken, 1996; Kuiken & Sikora, 1993). Results from Study 1 indicated that existential dreams were more likely than mundane dreams, transcendent dreams, or nightmares to be followed by reported self-perceptual depth; also, transcendent dreams were more likely than mundane dreams, existential dreams, or nightmares to be followed by reported spiritual transformation. Results from Study 2 replicated these findings for existential dreams, indicating also that the type of spiritual transformation associated with transcendent dreams involved an ecstatic sense of release from everyday entanglements. Both existential dreams and transcendent dreams moved the dreamer toward an unbounded sense of life in all things, as did lucid forms of all three dream types. Such unbounded enlivenment suggests an aesthetic substrate to the changes induced by each of these dream types. The contrasting short-term effects of impactful dream types may require integration into a comprehensive model of long-term dream function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream Content and Personality: Thick vs. Thin Boundaries

Using dream diary procedures and statistically controlling for age and gender, the present study investigated the relationship between Hartmann's (1991) boundary concept and various aspects of dreaming. Results with a sample of young adults confirmed earlier findings that persons with thin boundaries recall dreams (including nightmares) more often, report dreams that are more negative and emotionally intense, regard their dreams more favorably (i.e., as more meaningful and creative), and dream more frequently of verbal interaction with others.     

Role of severe psychopathology in sleep-related experiences: A pilot study.

The construct General Sleep-related Experiences (GSEs, such as elevated dream recall, vivid or bizarre dreams, flying dreams, hypnagogic hallucinations, nightmares, and recurrent dreams) has been previously linked to various forms of psychopathology in nonclinical populations. The aim of this pilot study was to explore this relationship in the context of severe psychopathology. Nineteen outpatients of a mental health clinic were compared to 26 controls on sleep experiences, psychopathology, sleep quality, life stress, and transliminality. Outpatients also reported illness intrusiveness levels. As expected, the outpatient group had elevated GSEs. Within the outpatient group, illness intrusiveness, stress, and transliminality were correlated with GSEs. These findings elucidate the association between GSEs and distress in the context of severe psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex dreams, wet dreams, and nocturnal emissions.

This study provides an overview of the frequencies and narrative features of sex and wet dreams and investigates the incestuous behavior in the manifest content of dreams. A questionnaire specially designed for capturing both quantitative and qualitative aspects of sex and wet dreams was administered to 58 male participants. More than 80% of participants had dreamed about having vaginal intercourse with a woman. Dreaming of sexual interactions other than vaginal intercourse—such as oral sex—was also common. Consistent with the hypothesis that latent sexual motives or some variation of sexuality that people may not be aware of during the daytime would emerge at night through dreaming, both homosexual and incestuous behaviors were observed in dreams. In addition, the finding indicates that sexual thoughts and motives can be represented by symbols in dreams, and dream impressions involving no erotic scenes are capable of eliciting nocturnal emissions. It seems that sex dreams, wet dreams, and nocturnal emissions without erotic imagery or dreaming can be distinguished from each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral Effects of Nightmares and Their Correlations to Personality Patterns

Factors affecting or inducing nightmares have been investigated repeatedly. However, little research is carried out on the behavioral consequences of nightmares. The present study thus served to investigate behavioral effects of nightmares in correlation to personality variables. 41 non-clinical participants, who suffer from about 2 nightmares per month recorded their dreams and nightmares over a 4-week period. A nightmare was defined as a dream that frightens the dreamer and could be recalled in detail on awakening. Anxiety and mood were monitored every morning. All nightmares and their behavioral consequences were noted on a questionnaire. Personality traits and life events were assessed at the beginning of the investigation. 100 nightmares were reported by the subjects over the 4-week period (range: 0–8). Following a nightmare, the subjects were significantly more anxious and were of a less stable mental condition compared to nights without nightmares. Additionally, nightmares induced physical complaints. This was considered to be an indicator that something was wrong in their lives and induced them to solve personal problems. The behavioral effects were most pronounced in subjects scoring high on neuroticism and on the number of physical complaints and low on achievement orientation and openness. The results suggest that sufferers of nightmares intend to change their lives, especially those with a neurotic-like personality.     

Children's Dreams and Nightmares: Emerging Trends in Research.

New manifest content analysis research on children's dreams and nightmares provides insights into how dreaming reveals developmental changes over time. Five culturally diverse research studies were conducted with varied methods for dream collection that included laboratory-collected dreams, as well as written journals, audiotaped dreams, and retrospectively recalled dreams. As children grow older, they are more able to recall dreams, dream narratives increase in length, and dreams are characterized by decreasing levels of passive victimization and have more elaborate character interactions. Age and gender differences in recall, interactions, and gender of dream characters indicate that dream research is a fertile area for studying child development and the changing function of dreams over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Austrian Dream Behavior: Results of a Representative Population Survey

This study was based on a survey of a representative sample of 1000 Austrians who were questioned about their sleep and dream behavior. About two-thirds of the respondents reported that they generally recalled at least one dream per month. Dream recall frequency decreased with advancing age, but did not differ between men and women. Fifty-five percent of the respondents characterized the affective content of their dreams: 29% reported neutral, 20% positive, and 6% negative dreams. Four percent of the sample reported suffering from nightmares. These respondents more frequently reported snoring, interrupted sleep, daytime somnolence, anxiety and nervousness, depression, high dream recall, recurrent dreams, and dreaming in color. Twenty-six percent of the total sample reported that sometimes they realized during their dreams that they were dreaming. These respondents more frequently reported family problems, high dream recall, positive dream content, recurrent dreams, dreaming in color, and nightmares.     

Media Use and Dreaming: The Relationship Among Television Viewing, Computer Game Play, and Nightmares or Pleasant Dreams.

Children (N=2,546) in a random sample of 15 secondary schools in Flanders, Belgium, completed a questionnaire about volume of television viewing, computer game playing, and nightmares and pleasant dreams related to these activities. TV content showed up frequently in nightmares for 33% of the children, and computer games were associated with nightmares in about 10% of boys and 5% of girls. About 60% of 13-year-olds and 50% of 16-year-olds reported having pleasant dreams related to TV. Computer games also appeared in pleasant dreams for a majority of 13-year-olds and a minority of 16-year-olds. Media influence on dream content was not limited to excessive media users. Concerns about the implications for the impact of media on dreams and general psychological well-being are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Arousability and Dreaming

This study finds that dream valence and the frequency with which several types of dreams were experienced are related to arousability. Specifically, compared to 214 university students who were classified as low in arousability, 182 university students who were high in arousability reported more frequent dreams for all seven types of dreams measured. This relationship between arousability and dreaming was especially salient for the three types of nightmares, (i.e., Fantastic Nightmares, Posttraumatic Nightmares, and Night Terrors) that were measured.     

Dream work with children: Perceptions and practices of school mental health professionals.

In this study, 49 public school mental health practitioners (school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers) completed a survey about working with students’ dreams. The majority of these practitioners reported having at least one student bring up dreams during counseling, more frequently with troubling dreams and nightmares or when coping with grief. Results showed that practitioners were less likely to talk about dreams with students who had been identified with an adjustment disorder, psychosis, or eating disorder; those who were oppositional or ill; and those who struggled with substance abuse problems. Although most practitioners did not feel competent working with children’s dreams and reported minimal training in dream work, they were interested in learning more about children’s dreams and potential uses of dream work in supportive counseling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dreamwork and Nightmares With Incarcerated Juvenile Felons.

Do juvenile felons suffer nightmares? Can dreamwork be useful with this population? After a review of the generally older and limited literature on these issues, 2 new surveys and several case examples give positive answers to these questions. In Study 1, 50 of 100 adolescent male felons reported dreams and 12 reported nightmares. In Study 2, with the addition of a follow-up prompt, 73 of 100 adolescent male felons reported dreams within the prior month and 13 reported nightmares. Seven case examples illustrate verbal interventions for nightmares, and 5 case examples illustrate benefits youths could derive from dreamwork. Suggestions for further research are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream Intensity Inventory and Chinese people's dream experience frequencies.

The present study aimed to devise a parsimonious instrument for evaluating both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of dream experiences and to quantify Chinese people's dream experiences in ways that facilitated cross-cultural comparisons. The Dream Intensity Inventory was developed and administered to 348 Chinese university students. Individual differences in dream recall frequency were observed, with some participants recalling dreams almost every morning whereas others recalled dreams less than once a month. By contrast, the Chinese participants exhibited less diverse dream awareness frequencies. Multiple dreams in a single night and nightmares were found to be prevalent among the Chinese participants. On the other hand, fewer than half of the participants experienced regularly voluntary control over dream activities and consciousness. The factor analyses of the items in the Dream Intensity Inventory resulted in three readily interpreted factors, which were labeled as the "dream quantity," "altered dream episodes," and "dream vividness" subscales, respectively. When compared with men, women participants had higher frequencies of regular dream experiences including dream awareness, nightmares, and multiple dreams, as measured by the dream quantity subscale. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal content of dreams in relation to the process and outcome of single sessions using the Hill Dream Model.

The authors coded 67 dreams into 5 categories for interpersonal content (7 positive, 20 negative, 9 agency, 16 nightmares, and 15 noninterpersonal); an additional 90 dreams were excluded because they had multiple or ambiguous interpersonal themes. The authors then compared the process (client involvement and therapist competence) and outcome (insight gains, action gains, session evaluation, and change in target problems) of dream sessions in which therapists used the Hill model for the 5 different types of dreams. Process and outcome were better for clients who presented positive, agency, and noninterpersonal dreams than for clients who presented negative dreams and nightmares. Implications for practice and research are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dream Content and Political Ideology

This pilot study focuses on the relationship of dream content and political ideology in a contemporary U.S. context. The study involved 56 people, 28 (14 male and 14 female) who identified themselves as members of the political right and 28 (14 male and 14 female) who identified themselves as members of the political left. Most recent dream reports from these subjects were analyzed using Hall and Van de Castle content analysis categories. Following that quantitative analysis, each dream was analyzed in terms of its narrative qualities (themes, images, emotional patterns, etc.). Although the small size of the study makes it impossible to offer definitive interpretations, the findings are suggestive: people on the political right had more nightmares, more dreams in which they lacked personal power, and a greater frequency of lifelike dreams; people on the political left had fewer nightmares, more dreams in which they had personal power, and a greater frequency of good fortunes and bizarre elements in their dreams. These findings have plausible correlations to certain features of the political ideologies of people on the left and the right, and merit future investigation in larger-scale studies.     

Comparison of dream anxiety and subjective sleep quality between chronotypes

Morning and evening-type individuals differ on a number of psychological and biological variables. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep quality, dream anxiety, and chronotypes. A sample of 264 university students, aged between 17 and 26 years, completed the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the Van Dream Anxiety Scale for assessing nightmare frequency and the dream anxiety caused by frightening dreams. Main findings indicated that evening-type individuals were significantly more likely to suffer from poor sleep quality, daytime dysfunction, nightmares, and nightmare-related disturbances as compared to either intermediate- or morning-type individuals. Previous studies have pointed out the possible connections of irregular sleep-wake habits and circadian dysregulation with a tendency to reveal eveningness chronotypical characteristics. Current findings suggest that evening-type individuals are more prone to experience psychologically deteriorating nightmares and sleep-related anxiety. Poor sleep quality is also a significant antecedent of dream anxiety after controlling for age and gender.

     

INNOVATION AND ANCESTRAL REVELATION: THE CASE OF DREAMS

This article explores aspects of the relationship between tradition and innovation in an Australian Aboriginal society by looking at dreams as a 'traditional' facet of cultural change. In many Aboriginal societies spirits of the deceased, spirit beings, and ancestral figures are said to communicate with and 'reveal' certain things to the dreamer. Some things that are revealed, such as those pertaining to ritual and ceremonial life, are said to have existed 'from the beginning' and are not considered to be 'new'. Here I discuss a case of ancestral revelation relating to a commonplace sphere of Aboriginal life – the card game. Through this I explore something of the complexity of the ways in which 'traditional' beliefs and forms of innovation are dialectically interdependent with contemporary cultural experiences as well as with distinctive historical experiences which have preceded them.     

The Treatment of Recalcitrant Post-traumatic Nightmares with Autogenic Training and Autogenic Abreaction: A Case Study

Recurrent and frightening dreams are commonly experienced by patients who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder after a motor vehicle accident. Such nocturnal episodes, if left untreated, can result in the experience of severe distress with physical, emotional, and psychophysiological concomitant. The present single-case study investigated the effects of the standard autogenic exercises and autogenic abreaction in reducing the frequency and severity of post-traumatic nightmares in a survivor of a car crash. The patient was also instructed in two additional organ-specific formulas in order to improve her sleep. The results of the study showed that the interventions were successful in effectively treating the patient's distressing nightmares. Follow-up data suggested that the treatment effects persisted after the termination of therapy. Suggestions for future investigations are discussed.     

TV viewing, computer game playing and nightmares in school children.

Often the question arises whether TV viewing or playing computer games, especially those of violent and aggressive content, has negative effects on children's sleep patterns and dreaming. Empirical data on this topic, however, are scarce. Two hundred fifty-two schoolchildren (range: 9 to 13 years) completed a questionnaire about media use and nightmares. The findings indicates that interindividual differences in nightmare frequency were not explained by interindividual differences in TV viewing or computer game playing habits. In addition, no effect of the TV films the evening before completing the questionnaire on the dreams the subsequent night could be demonstrated. Since the approach could not rule out an effect of media use habits on nightmares, the next step will be a longitudinal study eliciting the media use habits and the occurrence of nightmares by applying self-rated scales as well as information obtained by parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sleep and dream patterns of political liberals and conservatives.

In this study the author examined the dreams of American liberals and conservatives to highlight patterns that might correlate with their opposing political views. A total of 234 participants (134 self-described liberals and 100 self-described conservatives) completed a lengthy sleep and dream survey, and their answers revealed several notable patterns. People of both political persuasions shared a common substrate of basic human sleep and dream experience. Conservatives slept somewhat more soundly, with fewer remembered dreams. Liberals were more restless in their sleep and had a more active and varied dream life. In contrast to a previous study, liberals reported a somewhat greater proportion of bad dreams and nightmares. Consistent with earlier research, the dreams of conservatives were more mundane, whereas the dreams of liberals were more bizarre. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysiological correlates of sexually and non-sexually motivated attention to film clips in a workload task

Some authors have speculated that the cognitive component (P3) of the Event-Related Potential (ERP) can function as a psychophysiological measure of sexual interest. The aim of this study was to determine if the P3 ERP component in a workload task can be used as a specific and objective measure of sexual motivation by comparing the neurophysiologic response to stimuli of motivational relevance with different levels of valence and arousal. A total of 30 healthy volunteers watched different films clips with erotic, horror, social-positive and social-negative content, while answering an auditory oddball paradigm. Erotic film clips resulted in larger interference when compared to both the social-positive and auditory alone conditions. Horror film clips resulted in the highest levels of interference with smaller P3 amplitudes than erotic and also than social-positive, social-negative and auditory alone condition. No gender differences were found. Both horror and erotic film clips significantly decreased heart rate (HR) when compared to both social-positive and social-negative films. The erotic film clips significantly increased the skin conductance level (SCL) compared to the social-negative films. The horror film clips significantly increased the SCL compared to both social-positive and social-negative films. Both the highly arousing erotic and non-erotic (horror) movies produced the largest decrease in the P3 amplitude, a decrease in the HR and an increase in the SCL. These data support the notion that this workload task is very sensitive to the attentional resources allocated to the film clip, although they do not act as a specific index of sexual interest. Therefore, the use of this methodology seems to be of questionable utility as a specific measure of sexual interest or as an objective measure of the severity of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder.