Explaining the Relation between Nightmares and Suicide

Nadorff, Michael R.; Pearson, Meredith D; Golding, Shea

doi:10.5664/jcsm.5564

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In a therapeutic context, LDs are associated with an increased sense of agency and control (Holzinger et al, 2015), similar to other nightmare treatments (Ellis, 2015(Ellis, , 2016, and in stark contrast to the typical hopelessness and despair felt in response to nightmares (Littlewood, Gooding, Panagioti, & Kyle, 2016;Nadorff, Pearson, & Golding, 2016). That we also found increased negative emotion in the dreams of participants high in nightmare distress is not inconsistent with therapeutic applications of LD, in that lucidity is ideally used as a tool to confront a threat in nightmares.…”

Section: Therapeutic Implications For Nightmaressupporting

confidence: 73%

Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction.

Carr

Konkoly

Mallett

et al. 2023

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

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Previous experiments combining cognitive techniques and sleep disruption have been relatively successful in inducing at-home lucid dreams over training periods of 1-week or more. Here, we induce lucid dreams in a single laboratory nap session by pairing cognitive training with external stimulation. Participants came to the laboratory at 7:30 am or 11:00 am and during polysomnography setup were provided with information about lucid dreaming. For twenty minutes prior to sleep the experimenter played alternating audio and visual cues at 1minute intervals. Participants were instructed to practice a mental state of critical selfawareness, observing their thoughts and experiences each time they noticed a cue. This procedure associated the cues with the trained mental state. Subsequently, participants were allowed 90 minutes to nap, and the audio and visual cues were represented during REM sleep to activate self-awareness in dreams and elicit lucidity. A control group followed the same procedure but was not cued during sleep. All participants were instructed to signal their lucidity by looking left and right four times (LR Signal). Signal-verified lucid dreams (SVLDs) qualified as dreams in which the LR signal was observed and the participant reported becoming lucid. Across the two nap times, this protocol induced SVLDs in 50% of participants. In the absence of cueing during sleep, participant SVLD rate was 17%. Of note, three successful participants had never before experienced a lucid dream, suggesting this protocol may be effective across the general population. Implications of this Targeted Lucidity Reactivation protocol for nightmare treatment are discussed.

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Section: Therapeutic Implications For Nightmaressupporting

confidence: 73%

Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction.

Carr

Konkoly

Mallett

et al. 2023

Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

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show abstract

“…The challenges surrounding treatment of trauma and associated nightmares have important implications in the treatment of other outcomes as well. For example, nightmares and interpersonal trauma have both been associated with suicide risk (Bebbington et al, 2009; Nadorff et al, 2016; Stewart, 2005; Talbot, Duberstein, Cox, Denning, & Conwell, 2004; Yoo et al, 2018). Yoo and colleagues reported that exposure to interpersonal trauma is a strong predictor of suicidal ideation (Yoo et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, sleep disturbance, including nightmares, and poor-quality sleep can further contribute to negative affect and increased PTSD symptoms during the following day (Short, Allan, & Schmidt, 2017). Sleep disturbance has also been found to significantly predict poorer outcomes in psychiatric inpatients (Hartwig et al, 2019) and has been linked to suicide risk (Lamis et al, 2018; Nadorff, Pearson, & Golding, 2016).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Nightmares in adult psychiatric inpatients with and without history of interpersonal trauma.

et al. 2020

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Nightmares are a prevalent problem among trauma survivors and can cause significant impairment in well-being and daily functioning. Exposure to interpersonal trauma is associated with increased severity of posttraumatic symptoms, including nightmares, and greater likelihood of developing posttraumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, nightmares are one of the few symptoms that may persist in the years following a traumatic event. The aims of this study were to assess whether patients' nightmares respond differently to treatment as usual and to determine whether exposure to different traumas was associated with treatment-resistant nightmares. Outcomes from 2,970 participants with comorbid psychiatric disorders were collected on a biweekly basis over the course of inpatient psychiatric treatment. Nightmare trajectory groups were identified using self-report nightmare severity data and analyzed in a group-based trajectory model. Chi-square tests were then utilized to

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“…As noted by Nadorff et al, 182 progress is being made in the search for mechanisms that can explain the process whereby nightmares confer greater risk for suicide (see Table 4 for a review of mediator studies), but the management of suicide risk via nightmare treatment is one area that may deserve greater exploration. Results from an uncontrolled trial 183 showed that imagery rehearsal therapy may resolve both nightmares and suicide ideation, with a case study suggesting that prazosin 184 may also be effective in achieving similar outcomes.…”

Section: Parasomniasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicidality in sleep disorders: prevalence, impact, and management strategies

Drapeau¹,

Nadorff²

2017

NSS

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Sleep disturbances are associated with suicide-related thoughts and behaviors, and the incidence of sleep concerns and suicide has increased recently in the US. Most published research exploring the sleep–suicidality relation is focused on select sleep disorders, with few reviews offering a comprehensive overview of the sleep–suicidality literature. This narrative review broadly investigates the growing research literature on sleep disorders and suicidality, noting the prevalence of suicide ideation and nonfatal and fatal suicide attempts, the impact of several sleep disorders on suicide risk, and potential sleep-disorder management strategies for mitigating suicide risk. Aside from insomnia symptoms and nightmares, there exist opportunities to learn more about suicide risk across many sleep conditions, including whether sleep disorders are associated with suicide risk independently of other psychiatric conditions or symptoms. Generally, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials examining the modification of suicide risk via evidence-based sleep interventions for individuals with sleep disorders.

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Explaining the Relation between Nightmares and Suicide

Cited by 13 publications

References 10 publications

Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction.

Combining presleep cognitive training and REM-sleep stimulation in a laboratory morning nap for lucid dream induction.

Nightmares in adult psychiatric inpatients with and without history of interpersonal trauma.

Suicidality in sleep disorders: prevalence, impact, and management strategies

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