Introduction According to the dictionary diagnosis in PsychCentral, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is defined as a “debilitating mental disorder that follows experiencing or witnessing an extremely traumatic, tragic, or terrifying event” (PTSD Info & Treatment, 2013). While this definition describes the general definition of PTSD, the DSM-IV states that the criteria for being diagnosed with PTSD varies between a person who “experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event or events that involved actual or threatened death or serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others” and/or “the person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror” (DSM-IV, Appendix E). Such experiences can include various situations such as military involvement for veterans, domestic abuse, and even divorce. It is stated that once a person experiences a traumatic event, PTSD can develop as a combination of varying symptoms. When diagnosing possible PTSD patients, clinicians use the DSM-IV as a guide in “understanding clusters of symptoms” (Staggs, para. 1). Some of these symptoms include “recurrent and intrusive” recollections of the situation, “including images, thoughts, or perceptions; acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were recurring; intense psychological distress” to symbols representing trauma; and “recurrent distressing dreams of the event”, or nightmares/terrors (DSM-IV, Appendix E). While all symptoms play an important factor in diagnosing a patient with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the most common of the symptoms are the recurring dreams according to a statement in Dreaming in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Critical Review of Phenomology, Psychophysiology and Treatment by Wittmann, Schredl,... ... middle of paper ... ...e and Mental Health Services Administration, 51, Appendix E. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK83241/ Shanks, V. (2013). TREATING THE UNCONSIOUS COMPLEX OF PTSD. Pacifica Graduate Institute, 20-21. Retrieved from http://media.proquest.com.ezproxy.emich.edu/media/pq/classic/doc Standen, A. (2012). Ending Nightmares Caused By PTSD. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/health/2012/01/16/144672190/ending-nightmares-caused-by-ptsd Swales, P. (2012). Sleep and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Retrieved from http://www.svfreenyc.org/survivors_factsheet_101.html Wittmann, L., Schredl, M., & Kramer, M. (2007). Dreaming in posttraumatic stress disorder: A critical review of phenomenology, psychophysiology and treatment. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 76, 25-39. Retrieved from http://media.proquest.com.ezproxy.emich.edu/media/pq/classic/doc
therapeutic uses of lucid dreaming, one can see how hard it would be for society to accept this kind of therapy if viewing the key element, dreaming, as "meaningless biology" (LaBerge [1]). Society needs to change the attitudes around dreaming due to the possible benefits that dream therapy could have on problems such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The benefits that lucid dream therapy could have for these treatments show why society needs to embrace all types of dreaming as important and useful
A dream is the experience of having images, sounds, or other sensations while sleeping. Many dreams come from various activities from throughout the day but some offer symbolic expressions. There is a connection between the conscious and the unconscious that can fill in the gaps of self-knowledge and provide the information needed. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung have two theories on dreams. Sigmund Freud’s theory was that dreams are an expression of what one is repressing during the time being awake
referred to as isolated sleep paralysis or familial sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis causes people to sleep into a disturbed mental state which consists of periods of inabilities to perform normal movements not because of a mental disease, but because of stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation. A person that experiences sleep paralysis may wake up and find himself unable to move, speak, and sometimes even breathe as if he is frozen (Takahashi). The person may also hear footsteps or see ghosts- the victim
to listen to dreams and use their message for the betterment of health and living. Since ancient times, dreams and their interpretations have been recognized as powerful and important. Dreams were considered to be a gift from a higher power and a connection from earth to the heavens and other spiritual worlds (Guiley). In the Old Testament, King Pharaoh’s dreams are interpreted multiple times by Joseph and clay tablets dating back to 3000 B.C., in the Roman and Greek era’s depict dreams or visions
the Holocaust during World War 2. As a grade we were given a packet from our respective English teachers that had four poems written about World War 1, our job was to connect the poems to different parts of the World War One exhibit and make the connections between both the poems and the artifacts within the exhibit. ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is without a doubt one of the most memorable poems from the World War One era. Written by Wilfred Owen, the imagery within the poem and the tone of which it is
There are three forms of sleep paralysis. Ramsawh (2005) found that when it occurs in non-narcoleptic individuals it is known to as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP). Another form is referred to as familial sleep paralysis, in which it is similar to ISP, but genetically transmitted (Levitt, 2009). The final form of sleep paralysis is narcoleptic sleep paralysis, which occurs as a symptom of Narcolepsy (Levitt, 2009). Isolated sleep paralysis episodes are characteristic with “infrequent attacks and