The Lucid Dreaming And How Can It Be A Method Of Psychotherapy For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Essay

The relationship between dreaming and repression is complex and requires thorough understanding of Freud’s theory thus it is better to get to know some of the terms and concepts Freud raises in study of dreams. As all the information is gathered, it is believed that the wish as fulfilled is shown only in a state of repression during sleep.

For many centuries, people would think of dreaming as curses or blessings that we can not fend off or operate. Lucid dreaming, a dream in which a dreamer is aware that he or she is dreaming; they may be able to control the dream by exert amount. In this dream stage, we perform superhuman features that would be impossible when we’re awake. While a person dreams, these wonderful things become a temporality reality. Researchers says that a average person dreams four to six times a night(insert). Many people dream every night without even realizing that their dreams can be controlled. Others might not give too much care about the dreams that they might experienced. Lucid dreaming can turn scary dreams into happy dreams, or happy dreams into more relaxed ones. This method of dreaming can provide the dreamer endless ways to control their subconscious which can provide enjoyable experiences.

Research has shown that, “people who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience trough nightmares and flashbacks,” (“What”). Survivors’ dreams are most often related to a specific traumatic image or situation the individual was put in, that continues to haunt them years later.

The humankind throughout history has tried to learn and figure out the meaning of dreaming. The interpretations and true meanings of dreams has expanded and has varied over centuries and cultures. Many of the earlier studies were based on culture’s and the interpretation of dreams, but also used as a form of prophecy, inspiration, and guidance. Many people still believe this such, people today beliefs and theories have opened up to a more vast interpretation, they are made up of; dreams are rare brain activity, dreams allow people to reflect on themselves, or that dreams are too massive to be correctly interpret. Although, not a single theory has been proven to this day, science as of why dreams occur is still a mystery.

The client presents to the facility appearing to have symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder including night mares, flash backs, and having a difficulty sleeping at night; she reports many nights that she does not want to go to sleep because the nightmares will wake her up. According to the American Psychiatric Association “posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that can occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event such as a natural disaster, a serious accident, a terrorist act, war/combat, rape or other violet personal assault” (American Psychiatric Association, 2018, para.

To many people, dreams are the thoughts that occur while sleeping, having almost mystic qualities. For millennia the significance of dreams has escaped even the brightest of philosophers and intellectuals. Many people have speculated about why people dream and what meanings the dreams have but in recent times two theories have gained credibility in answering those questions. The first theory is Sigmund Freuds and the other is known as the cognitive theory of dreams also known as biological determinism.

The researchers question was to examine the success of CBT-I and IRT for veterans with PTSD .Cognitive-behavioral therapy is psychotherapy in which mental health counselors (therapist) work with in numbers of session. CBT is a helpful tool in treating mental disorders. IRT helps reduce the frequency of nightmares among people with PTSD. The researchers hypothesized that after four session of CBT-I and IRT soldiers that comes back home from war would improve self-report, measure of sleep, and also decrease PTSD symptoms. Forty veterans who went to Afghanistan (30 black males, and 10 black females) were randomly assigned by a therapist working in the PTSD clinic. Each participant completed a packet of questionnaires. For two weeks they recorded how they slept in a diary. The participants were monitored for one week. Within two weeks of completing questionnaire, the participant would schedule their first session of CBT-I. Each participant had to complete four CBT sessions for 6 weeks. Researchers found that CBT-I improved and increased sleep time. In contrast, IRT showed no change in sleep and a small decrease in sleep time. While this study focus on cognitive-behavioral therapy the next study focus on Imagery rehearsal

They used twenty-eight female and male participants, some with frequent others with less frequent nightmares. All participants were screened for any mental or psychological disorders. In the study, participants would have a nap, complete a task, and fill out questions on the state of their dreams and experiences. The participants would also nap for longer and then be awakened right before they entered into REM sleep. Then the participant would once again answer questions and write about their dream experiences. The questionnaire contained questioned related to the state of their dream, stress levels, nightmare frequency, etc. The participants also slept in rooms with continuous surveillance and with a polysomnography. The participants were tested on their dream and daydreaming conditions with similar procedures that were previously

As we lay ourselves down every night to put our bodies to rest, our brains begin doing something extraordinary. It begins piecing together images, creating scenarios, simulating sensory perception, and adding in emotions and fears. They can make us wake up with a smile on our face or in a cold sweat. Dreaming is such a strange and often inexplicable phenomenon, but something we all do just about every night. People have theorized the process and the utility of dreams for centuries. However, much of the accepted knowledge we have a bout dreams today is still only theory. In fact, hardly anything about the dreaming experience is concrete because it is an experience

     An individual’s unconscious mind combines bits and pieces of information and places them together. Dreams are almost always visual. “Forty to fifty percent of dreams have some form of communication present in them and a very small percentage of dreams give the dreamer the ability to use his or her five senses”(Encarta). Dreams allow one to take a closer look into their mind in a quest for self-discovery. In ancient Greece dreams were believed to be messages from the gods. Hippocrates and Aristotle believed that dreams contained physiological information that may be cause of future illnesses. Dreams can be used to solve a number of different types of problems. In The Interpretation of Dreams, by Sigmund Freud he states “As regards the dream, all the troubles of waking life are transferred by it to the sleeping

Dreams are generally linked with rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep, which is a phase that happens near the end of a sleep cycle. REM sleep is characterized by the random movement of the eyes and heightened body and brain activity. One study proposed that there is a definitive link between dreams and emotions, where the reduction of REM sleep causes a reduction in the ability to comprehend the multifaceted emotions in everyday life (Gujar, 2011, p.117). This phase of the sleep cycle has the highest inclination of vivid dreams and studies of MRIs of the brain during REM sleep show that the amygdala and hippocampus play a key role (Gennaro, 2011, p.1458). The amygdale processes the memory of emotional reactions and the hippocampus stores information from short-term to long-term memory. These findings reveal the core mechanism and perhaps the reason that humans dream. Dreams seem to aid in processing emotions by linking them to a variety of memories. The experiences within dreams may not be real, but the emotions that accompany the images and events during REM sleep are unquestionably genuine. Without processing these emotions, the emotions build up and personal anxiety increases. With less REM sleep, people tend to be more agitated and mental disorders are more easily developed

“Dreams are a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.” This is the true definition of what dreams are according to Free Dictionary.com. Although many people are unaware of how dreams actually work there are two psychologists that have been able to pinpoint the true meaning of dreams. These two men are Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud. There are many different perceptions on how people dream, what dreams mean, and why people dream.

Trauma is something about 70% of Americans experience in their lifetime. How does it change the way our dreams structure themselves, or the intensity of images we see? Trauma can directly affect dreams, but how exactly it does affect dreams is what I’ll be exploring today. The purpose of this essay is to embark on a journey learning about trauma, dreams, and other things relating to it. Trauma can be seen to have a direct relationship dreams, and discovering that is the purpose of this paper.

that one is dreaming and that the dream is coming from the self. The notion that

What do dreams mean? Where do they come from? There are many theories in the world about dreams, and what they mean, but it all depends on the person. Many people with BPD have vivid nightmares, causing them to lose more sleep and even develop a fear of sleeping. In 1913, Frederik Van Eeden published a book titled, “A Study of Dreams” (Turner). He went into detail about lucid dreams, and how it improves a person’s sleep. He named the deepest stage of sleep one could experience “lucid dreaming.” He defined it as, “the reintegration of the psychic functions is so complete that the sleeper remembers day-life and his own condition, reaches a state of perfect awareness, and is able to direct his attention, and to attempt different acts of free volition” (Turner). People can become fully aware that they are dreaming, and are in control, the mind relaxes completely, making it the deepest most desirable stage of sleep. It was not discovered and confirmed until 2009, by a German study conducted at the Neurological Laboratory in Frankfurt, that brain activity significantly increased during lucid dreams (Turner). This time is extremely important for people’s mental health.