Download The Psychology of Dreams and Nightmares: Understanding Their Significance and Impact and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! The Psychology Behind Dreams and Nightmares The Stuff That Dreams are Made of: Gary Fireman, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology ļµ Video ā Big Lebowski Dream Sequence All that we see or seem Is but a dream within a dream Edgar Allen Poe Yesterday Frankenstein Periodic Table Double Helix Paul McCartney Mary ShelleyJames Watson Dmitry Mendeleyev Basics about Sleep: 3 Key Factors ļµ Sleep Debt ā Begin accumulating the debt as soon as wake up ļµ Circadian Rhythm ā Sleep wake cycle or biological clock with two cycles a day ļµ Environment ā Can have an alerting effect or sleep inducing effect Memory Concentration/ Attention Emotion Regulation Immune System Obesity Cardiovascular Disease & Hypertension Accidents School & Job Performance SLEEP Nocturnal Mentation Defined Bad Dreams NightmaresDreams Mentation that occurs during sleep in which images, thoughts, and sensations are organized in a story like manner. Range from the sensible to the bizarre. Vivid, dysphoric dreams that often include intense fear, anxiety, or terror and are remembered upon awakening in the morning. Similar to Bad Dreams but the feelings are so intense they cause the individual to awaken and are remembered. Idiopathic ā Different Content Recurrent ā Repetitive Content of focusing on a specific event Related Nocturnal Mentation Hypnagogic Dream Episode of screaming, crying, and intense fear while asleep. Difficult to arose the person and typically do not remember the event. Typically occur in a different phase of sleep (slow wave or deep sleep). Lucid Dreams A dream during which the person is aware they are dreaming. A dream that occurs between the transition of waking and sleep Night/Sleep Terrors Evidence of Function ļµ Fear Extinction/Threat Simulation ļµ Learning and Memory Consolidation ļµ Problem Solving and Creative Thinking ļµ Mood Regulation Evidence of Meaning ļµ Dreams are not governed by the rules of physics ļµ Two-thirds dream content has negative emotion ļµ Most have elements of negative content ļµ Almost half have elements of positive content ļµ Dreams are consistent with waking life Disturbed Dreaming ļµ Bad Dreams and Nightmares ļµ Developmentally increase from middle childhood to peak in young adulthood then typically decline as age ļµ Normative to have idiopathic Disturbed Dreaming ļµ Nightmare disorder diagnosed based on frequency and distress ļµ Recurrent/Repetitive Nightmares (PTSD) ļµ Gender difference (depression, anxiety and interpersonal trauma) ļµ Nightmare Content distinctions ā death, victimization, frequency and severity of aggressive acts ļµ Bad Dream distinction ā increased overall reference to affect both positive and negative and more regulated
