Are we dreaming or are we awake? A quali–quantitative analysis of dream narratives and dreaming process during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictive measures taken against the spread of the contagion can be considered as traumatic events having a major impact on mental health. Dreams after undergoing traumatic experiences could “replay” traumatic scenes or have a para-therapeutic role that facilitates connections between a traumatic event and associated emotions. However, the studies carried out thus far in the field of sleep and dreams during the COVID-19 pandemic have mostly focused on sleep disorders, emotional tones, and contents of dreams. The aim of the present study was to explore, from a qualitative–quantitative p...
Source: Dreaming - November 29, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Incubating prognostic dreams: An initial study of the Secret Book of Praying for Dreams.
Dream incubation has been widely practiced throughout Chinese history, and the use of dream manuals explaining how to properly incubate auspicious dreams has remained popular to the present. Yet, there are few studies examining these manuals. In this article, I contribute to the study of the incubation of dreams by examining the contents presented in the Secret Book of Praying for Dreams (SPBD; qi-meng mishu, 祈梦秘书), edited by Shi Shilun (1659–1722). By so doing, I try to unpack the complex rationale of incubating dreams. As I show in this article, in the SBPD, events in dreams are regarded as having valid prognos...
Source: Dreaming - November 29, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Evidence for preferentially dreaming of waking-life experiences that are relevant to one’s life story.
The continuity hypothesis of dreaming proposes that waking-life experiences can be incorporated into dreams. On the other hand, it is proposed that dreams may reflect the process of sleep-dependent consolidation for autobiographical memories. A model of autobiographical memory emphasizes the self’s role and goals in remembering. Based on this model, we hypothesized that waking-life experiences that are relevant to one’s life story are preferentially incorporated into dreams. Participants (N = 30) kept daily logs and dream diaries for 7 consecutive days, and they matched waking-life experiences to dream reports. In addi...
Source: Dreaming - October 18, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Dream sharing and positive mental health in Iranian culture.
This study was administered to 720 participants whose questionnaire responses were analyzed to determine if they told their dreams to others, how much do they share their dreams, whom they told their dreams, what kind of dreams were more told to others, for what purpose and finally, what is the relationship between sharing positive/negative dreams with positive mental health? Findings showed that dream sharing is common and people most shared their dreams with their close persons includes spouse, mother, and friends, respectively. Dreams were mostly shared with the purpose of understanding the meaning of dreams and people ...
Source: Dreaming - October 18, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Optimal sleep duration and its deviation outcomes from perspectives of REM sleep dissociative phenomena.
Lack of sleep increases vulnerability for a variety of diseases and decreases cognitive functions and the quality of life. To solve this problem, many researchers have attempted to determine the best sleep duration (SD). The aim of this follow-up study was to show how the prevalence of recurrent REM sleep dissociative phenomena such as lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, out-of-body experiences, and false awakenings correlate with sleep duration. A live survey of 978 respondents was used to extract needed data. The respondents provided answers regarding their SD and frequency of recurrent REM sleep dissociative phenomena, whi...
Source: Dreaming - October 18, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Nightmares and COVID-19: A possible increase in suicide attempts.
COVID-19, an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, has negatively affected almost every country in the world, with consequences going far beyond those of the disease itself. Some pandemic-related symptoms, such as anxiety, fear, worry, and traumatic stress, have had an impact on mental health and are known to be significant causes of nightmares. It has been demonstrated that people with frequent nightmares have a higher risk of suicide, especially when the nightmares are combined with depression. Many countries have reported COVID-19-related suicides. In particular, patients with previous psychiatric disorders may prese...
Source: Dreaming - October 18, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Comparing hall Van de Castle coding and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count using canonical correlation analysis.
This article gives an intuitive and also a more formal introduction of CCA for dream researchers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: Dreaming)
Source: Dreaming - October 18, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
The impact of imagery rehearsal therapy on dream enactment in a patient with REM-sleep behavior disorder: A case study.
Imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) is an evidence-based treatment for nightmare disorder (ND), and numerous studies have demonstrated its efficacy in reducing the frequency and severity of nightmares. ND and REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) co-occur, yet the impact of successful treatment of nightmares on dream enactment in RBD has not been studied. In this case study, we present the treatment of ND using IRT and its impact on dream enactment in the context of RBD. A total of 5 sessions of IRT over 5 months resulted in a reduction in nightmares and, according to the patient and her husband, a decrease in dream enactment. We ...
Source: Dreaming - October 18, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Factor analysis and validation of the Disturbing Dreams and Nightmare Severity Index.
The Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index (DDNSI) has been used widely in research and clinical practice without psychometric evidence supporting its use. The present study aimed to explore and confirm the factor structure of the DDNSI as well as to test the measure’s construct validity and invariance between groups based on sex and race. In all, 2 samples of U.S. undergraduate participants (N = 614 and N = 606) provided data on nightmares (i.e., DDNSI, Nightmare Effects Survey, Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire, Nightmare Distress Questionnaire, and Trauma-Related Nightmare Survey) and related psychopathology (e...
Source: Dreaming - September 27, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Dreaming about cats: An online survey.
Cats have lived with humankind for millennia, and one would expect—according to the continuity hypothesis of dreaming—that cats also show up in dreams, more often when the relationship is between the cat and a human is closer, for example, when she or he is a cat owner. Previous studies showed that the percentage of dreams that included cats ranges from 0.4% to 2%, but studies relating waking-life experiences with cats with dreams about cats have not been carried out. In total, 1,695 persons (960 women, 735 men; mean age: 53.84 ± 13.99 years) completed an online survey that included questions about dreams and waking-l...
Source: Dreaming - September 13, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Dreaming of the deceased after miscarriage: A pilot study.
This study explores dreaming of the deceased after a miscarriage, in both birth mothers and partners. Participants were 214 U.S. residents (133 birth mothers) who had experienced a miscarriage within the prior year. All questionnaires and dream reports were completed online. Many participants (57.0%) reported dreaming of the deceased unborn child at least once. Grief intensity scores ranged from very low to very high but did not relate to dream themes of the deceased from a checklist nor dream categories from a content analysis of participants’ most memorable dreams. This study provides preliminary exploration into the f...
Source: Dreaming - September 9, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Flying limitations in lucid dreams.
In this study, we investigated LD limitations on the possibility of flying. We instructed LD practitioners to fly while in an LD while performing no other movements (including jumping). That is, practitioners were to attempt to fly using only intention and thought. Then they were asked to report whether they succeeded, how much effort was required, and the duration of the flight. Most of the participants succeeded in flying while in an LD. Among those with successful results, almost everyone spoke about flying with little effort. We suggest that even within the context of LDs, some limitations prevent some practitioners fr...
Source: Dreaming - August 26, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Stress as a moderator of the relationship between alexithymia and dreaming: Research findings.
A study was carried out to investigate the relationship between alexithymia and dreaming, and stress as a moderator of that relationship. The aspects of dreaming considered were the number of remembered dreams, the number of nightmares experienced, the number of instances of sleep paralysis, and the number of lucid dreams. Based on the subject literature, there was assumed to exist a positive correlation between alexithymia and the number of nightmares, as well as negative correlations between alexithymia and numbers of remembered dreams, instances of sleep paralysis, and lucid dreams. A group of 82 persons was studied (41...
Source: Dreaming - August 2, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Nightmares are not the only negative dreams: Dream content in individuals who suffer from frequent nightmares.
Previous research found that nightmares are accompanied by strong negative emotions. However, nonnightmare dream content of individuals who frequently suffer from nightmares has never been examined. Eighteen individuals with frequent nightmares (≥1 nightmare/week) and 18 control participants without nightmares ( (Source: Dreaming)
Source: Dreaming - August 2, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
Nightmare frequency and feminine and masculine sex roles: An online survey.
Previous research has documented a gender difference in nightmare frequency, with women reporting nightmares more often than men. Several explanations have been suggested but empirical research in this area is scarce. The present online survey was completed by 1,808 participants (1,110 women, 698 men) with a mean age 45.64 ± 15.33 years. The gender effect was no longer significant if masculinity/femininity, both showing negative or positive correlations to nightmare frequency, respectively, were statistically controlled. This finding indicates that gender roles may at least partially explain the gender difference in night...
Source: Dreaming - August 2, 2021 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research
