![]() Indirectly, this also decreases REM sleep. The Irony of InsomniaĪ common treatment of depression today are SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors), which increase serotonin levels and elevate moods. So, metaphorically, we can even say that dreams and depression are like bird on a wire, sharing many of the same cognitive attributes. Depression takes days or weeks to develop.” Are dreams depressed by nature? He writes, “These emotions could fit into the depressive spectrum, but in dreams, the aminergic deficit is acute and restored immediately upon waking. In other words, the odds are against you for having a good dream in the first place. Hobson notes that three emotions dominate in dreams: anxiety, anger and elation. As Hobson explains in his classic The Chemistry of Conscious States, this is why dreams may be so overwhelmingly negative. During REM sleep, acetycholine and its regulators dominate the scene while serotonin is depressed. And as Allan Hobson has argued for thirty years, dreams are also a chemical event, and are deeply affected by modulations in the brain’s neurotransmitters. The Chemistry of Dreams Highly recommended introduction on dreams and the brain.Ī critical perspective to remember is that depression involves irregularities in brain chemistry. Whether this is beneficial depends on the dreamer’s anxiety level, the life situation, and the cultural preparation for this level of dreamwork. Instead, consider the idea that nightmares may “induce” tension, giving dreamers a chance to confront their emotions head-on, both in the dream and later in waking life. ![]() This does not necessarily mean that nightmares are bad for us. Indeed, the age-old belief that nightmares act as a “tension-reducing” mechanism is under fire, as recent finding suggest that nightmares often add to anxiety (Roberts et al., 2009). Given that we don’t completely understand the function of dreams, - or even of sleep for that matter - I think this is an alarming trend. ![]() However, success with highly traumatized patients has led other researchers to envision an anti-sleeping pill for anyone who wants to have less sleep (and less dreams as a bonus). For example, medications like Prazosin, originally prescribed for high blood pressure, reduce adrenaline and reduce the nightmares that plague PTSD sufferers. This approach has some merit, especially for sufferers of Post Tramatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This is a growing trend in neuroscience, fueling the search for the perfect pill that can eliminate nightmares. Some psychologists believe that REM dreams actually makes depression worse. The correlation between dreams and depression has led to shifts in thinking about the value of dreams. Rather than waking up refreshed, the clinically depressed dreamer wakes up feeling like he has been in battle all night long and now has to get up and do it again in waking life. It’s insult on top of injury that these unpleasant dreams are often mixed with insomnia and less slow-wave sleep: that “deep” sleep that leaves us feeling restored and refreshed. The quality of REM dreams (also called “paradoxical sleep”) is different too: more intense emotions, more negative themes, more nightmares, and more unpleasant dreams, in general. In fact, people who are clinically depressed may dream three or four times as much. In the 1970s, psychologists noted that people suffering from depression also report more dreams than average. Sleep plays a major role in mood regulation that’s a truism that is behind every mother’s call for “time to go to bed!” But while the links between dreams and depression are well documented, the role of dreams in maintaining mental health is still one of the most confusing components in the function of sleep. ![]()
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