Dreaming activity in bariatric surgery candidates.

The objective of this article was to contribute to the comprehension of the psychological aspects of severe obesity by analyzing the dream characteristics of bariatric surgery candidates. Given the lack of previous studies comparing control subjects and obese patients, we did not formulate specific hypotheses on possible differences between the 2 groups. We conducted a pilot study, generating hypotheses for future research. The study observed 41 severely obese individuals in presurgical psychiatric evaluation for bariatric surgery and 41 healthy volunteers of similar age. The last recalled dream of each participant was recorded and transcribed (dream report). According to the Jungian approach to dreams as texts, the dream reports were evaluated according to the canons of textual analysis. Structural differences between bariatric surgery candidates and the control group emerged: The bariatric surgery candidates tend not to alternate between tenses, their narration inferior in drive and dynamism. They tend to characterize the dream setting in a descriptive manner and they express less their emotional state in respect to the control group. The mean score of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale was significantly higher in the bariatric surgery candidates group. Our results suggest that severe obesity—a complex condition pertaining to both mind and body—correlates with psychological traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Dreaming - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Source Type: research