Nightmares!

Black Swan

The DSM-IV defines nightmares as "intensely disturbing dreams that awake the dreamer to a fully conscious state and generally occur in the latter half of the sleep period." Brant Hasler and Anne Germain (2009) in Correlates and Treatments of Nightmares in Adults, Science Direct Volume 4, Issue 4, Pages 507-517, suggest that nightmare associated emotions include fear, anxiety, anger, and despair, as well as distress and impairment of awake functions.

Do you experience frequent nightmares?

Fathom

Black Swan wrote: »

Do you experience frequent nightmares?

Occasionally. Content & context varies. Exam grinds frequent nightmares. Performance distress.

Black Swan

Rereading BF Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971), and now pondering how he might explain and predict nightmares from his behaviouristic operant conditioning model?

Fathom

Exam cramming. Lack of sleep. Nightmares too. Association?

Fathom

Retrospective measurements. Underestimate nightmare frequency. Why? Subjects reluctant to report. Ref: Victor I. Spoormaker, et al., Nightmares: from anxiety symptom to sleep disorder, Sleep Medicine Reviews Volume 10, Issue 1, February 2006, Pages 19-31.

Oink

Interesting that according to the above definition, a nightmare "awakes the dreamer". Not necessarily every time surely?

On a separate note, and from a personal experience, nightmares are often more interesting than dreams from a storyline point of view!

Fathom

Oink wrote: »

Interesting that according to the above definition, a nightmare "awakes the dreamer". Not necessarily every time surely?

Definitions vary. DSM IV must awake. Other literature either way.

Oink wrote: »

On a separate note, and from a personal experience, nightmares are often more interesting than dreams from a storyline point of view!

My take. Spooky dreams entertaining.

Fathom

Nightmare. Driving Cadillac. Long. Difficult to park. Wide turns. Bumping into things. I like small. Sporty. Not this showboat. Awoke. Nonsense dream.