and heard thee murmur tales of iron wars

This involves helping the person to plan a change in the storyline of their nightmare in order to increase their sense of mastery or control, and then mentally rehearsing the new dream before going to sleep.Ī pilot study undertaken by the Australian Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health (ACPMH) at the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with Austin Health, found that IR was effective in ridding a majority of Vietnam veteran participants of their recurrent nightmares of 30-plus years. Imagery rehearsal (IR) is an emerging treatment for the post-traumatic nightmares of PTSD. An alternative explanation is that post-traumatic dreams share many of the features of normal dreams, with the accompanying body movement explained by other factors such as a REM abnormality (overriding the normal body paralysis during REM) or the dreams occurring in non-REM sleep (when the body is not paralysed). This would certainly explain the associated bodily movement - intrusive symptoms of PTSD can include trauma-related thoughts, emotions, and physiological and behavioural responses.īut the conclusions of dream theorists have not been put to an empirical test. Similarly, the contemporary theory that dreams serve an adaptive function in the processing of emotional experience cannot explain the repetitive dreams of PTSD, leading to the conclusion that they are better understood as intrusive symptoms of PTSD rather than dreams. He argued these nightmares were better understood as the psychological phenomenon of “repetition compulsion” – the attempt to psychologically master overwhelming experiences by returning to them again and again.

This may be because of the perceived safety of that environment, with the presence of sleep technicians, allowing the person with PTSD to let their guard down, relax their usual hyper-vigilance and get a good night’s sleep.Īt the most basic level, there is debate about whether the post-traumatic dreams of PTSD should be considered dreams at all, given their recurrent nature.įreud, for example, could not reconcile the recurrent nightmares of returning World War I soldiers with his theory of dreams as wish fulfilment. Psychophysiological studies, recording electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) activity associated with post-traumatic dreams, have proven difficult because these dreams don’t tend to occur in a sleep laboratory environment. CausesĪlthough post-traumatic dreams have been recognised for centuries, we know surprisingly little about them. Such severe sleep disturbances are very distressing to both the people suffering PTSD and their partners, who often resort to sleeping in separate beds, afraid of being harmed during a violent dream. Some remember in precise detail what they’ve dreamt while others wake with no memory of a dream, but have intense emotions of fear, horror or anger, as though the trauma has just occurred. Not surprisingly, PTSD sufferers often wake from sleep with the covers torn off, or may even find themselves on the floor. Typically, arms and legs thrash about, the person may yell and scream, and in some cases, unintentionally assault their sleeping partner. It can mean, for example, that the person acts out dreams of being attacked, engaging in combat, or fleeing from a bushfire. Why is it a problem?Īcting out your dreams can be particularly concerning when they involve replays of actual traumatic experiences, or equally frightening related events. … Of prisoners’ ransom and of soldiers slain,Īnd all the currents of a heady fight.

Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents, Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed Ĭry “Courage! to the field!” And thou hast talk’d In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch’dĪnd heard thee murmur tales of iron wars

And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars