Adaptive nightmares of Holocaust survivors: The Auschwitz camp in the former inmates’ dreams.

Owczarski, Wojciech

doi:10.1037/drm0000086

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 37 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…Where the theories differ is in Nielsen and Levin's view that nightmares are pathological, examples of the failure of fear memory extinction, while polyvagal theory suggests that autonomic processes and their effects, including nightmares, are essentially adaptive. Nightmares can be viewed, even in extreme cases, as attempts to metabolize the impact of traumatic events, and ultimately promote recovery (Owczarski, 2018). Both theories (AMPHAC-AND and polyvagal) attest to the complex mix of contributing factors, including a major role for physiological elements, in the aetiology of nightmares.…”

Section: A Neurocognitive Model Of Nightmaresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solving the nightmare mystery: The autonomic nervous system as missing link in the aetiology and treatment of nightmares.

Ellis¹

2023

Dreaming

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Current theories about the aetiology of nightmares and mechanisms of action that account for their successful treatment have not yet taken the polyvagal theory (Porges, 2011) into consideration. While the polyvagal theory's updated and multifaceted view of the autonomic nervous system's (ANS) response to threat has begun to transform the field of trauma treatment, most of these ideas have not yet been applied to nightmares and their treatment. This article outlines how the theory may provide a missing link in understanding specific ways that trauma and adversity lead to chronic nightmares, and it offers a way to make sense of the heterogeneity of trauma-related symptoms and concomitant responses to nightmare treatments. A review of the literature demonstrates evidence of links between measures of ANS and physiological responses to nightmares. Content similarities between threat responses described by polyvagal theory and common nightmare themes provides an additional avenue for assessment and intervention. Theories of nightmare aetiology and treatment are evaluated with respect to polyvagal theory, and lastly, a proposed treatment protocol, nightmare relief, offers a polyvagalinformed, process-experiential approach to treating nightmares, with links to clinical examples.

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Section: A Neurocognitive Model Of Nightmaresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solving the nightmare mystery: The autonomic nervous system as missing link in the aetiology and treatment of nightmares.

Ellis¹

2023

Dreaming

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“…On the one hand, they remember of their experiences of meaningful dreams—prophetic or helpful—in the camp. On the other hand, many of them still experience (at the time of writing their answers to the questionnaire) horrible nightmares which make them sick and depressed (Owczarski 2018). No wonder then that they prefer not to believe in dreams, not to admit that dreams can stay in any relationship with their real lives.…”

Section: The Inmates’ Attitudes Toward Dreamsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, many dream researchers and therapists dealing with PTSD (post‐traumatic stress disorder) patients observe that even the most stubborn and recurring nightmares can evolve with time and become aimed at “weaving in of new experiences” (Hartmann 2001, 14; see also Krippner 2016; Taylor 2016). The nightmares of the Auschwitz survivors transformed the dreamer’s experiences particularly often into another kind of plot (see Owczarski 2018). Those dream transformations of the remembered past significantly affected the character of the respondents’ testimonies.…”

Section: Dreaming About “What Could Have Been”mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dreaming “the Unspeakable”?How the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Prisoners Experienced and Understood Their Dreams

Owczarski¹

2020

Anthropol of Consciousness

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This article explores the dream descriptions submitted in 1973–1974 by former Polish prisoners of the Auschwitz concentration camp in response to a questionnaire sent out by Polish psychiatrists. These descriptions are being investigated as testimonies that represent the Auschwitz inmates’ experiences commonly regarded as “unspeakable.” Not only the dream experience itself, but also the respondents’ attitudes toward and beliefs about dreams are taken into consideration in an attempt to understand the impact of the Holocaust on the survivors. Their general inability of comprehending the Auschwitz and post‐Auschwitz dreams seems to be the most important and significant aspect of their testimonies. The experience of dreams as completely strange and astonishing phenomena is being explained in this article in connection with the respondents’ ability and inability to recover from their Holocaust trauma.

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Nightmares, nightmare topics and lucid dreaming in a male prison sample

Klofat

Steingen

2023

Somnologie

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Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Die raren Studien zum Schlaf Inhaftierter fokussieren auf Schlafqualität und Insomnie. Aufgrund von Traumatisierung wie belastenden Haftbedingungen ist ein hohes Risiko für Parasomnien, v. a. Alpträume, bei dieser schwer erreichbaren Population anzunehmen. Dennoch gibt es hierzu bislang keine Studien. Ziel war es, Parasomnie- und Alptraumprävalenzen in Justizvollzugsanstalten (JVA) zu erheben sowie Korrelationen zu Schlafqualität und anderen Faktoren explorativ zu untersuchen und Alptraumthemen zu beleuchten. Methodik Von 29 im COVID-Lockdown kontaktierten JVAs beteiligte sich lediglich die JVA Hannover. 33 Inhaftierte wurden mittels standardisierter Fragebögen zu Schlafqualität, diversen Parasomnien, luzidem Träumen und Alptraumthemen befragt. Ergebnisse Über allgemein schlechte Schlafqualität hinaus zeigten sich bei den Inhaftierten annähernd alle Parasomnie-Prävalenzen erhöht, insbesondere REM-Schlaf-Verhaltensstörung (RBD)/Dream Enactment und Alpträume. 33 % litten mehrfach wöchentlich unter Alpträumen, 21 % jede/fast jede Nacht, 61 % unter wiederkehrenden Alpträumen. Inhalte reflektieren u. a. Verlust von Angehörigen und Hafterleben. Erstaunlich häufig zeigte sich luzides Träumen (36 % ≥ 2 ×/Mon). Die Alptraumbelastung korreliert mit Schlafqualität, RBD und Rate an luziden Träumen. Diskussion Übereinstimmend mit der Literatur bestätigen unsere Daten die schlechte Schlafqualität Inhaftierter und ergänzen diese um vorläufige Ergebnisse zu Parasomnien. Interkorrelationen weisen auf Trauma-assoziierte Schlafstörungen (TASD) als mögliches Bindeglied. Aufgrund des starken Leidensdrucks wie auch in Hinblick auf potenziell weitergreifende Effekte sollte in JVAs systematisch nach Alpträumen gescreent werden und spezifische Behandlungsangebote sollten evaluiert und implementiert werden.

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Adaptive nightmares of Holocaust survivors: The Auschwitz camp in the former inmates’ dreams.

Cited by 4 publications

References 37 publications

Solving the nightmare mystery: The autonomic nervous system as missing link in the aetiology and treatment of nightmares.

Solving the nightmare mystery: The autonomic nervous system as missing link in the aetiology and treatment of nightmares.

Dreaming “the Unspeakable”?How the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Prisoners Experienced and Understood Their Dreams

Nightmares, nightmare topics and lucid dreaming in a male prison sample

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