The dream contents in veterans of Iraq-Iran war suffering from chronic PTSD

Abstract

Background:Iraq-Iran war lasted 8 years and ended approximately 20 years ago. It left many mentally injured veterans suffering from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this research we tried to evaluate the most frequent dream contents.Material & Method:Fifty patients with chronic PTSD and fifty matched healthy individuals were included in the study. Patient's demographic data, status of depression and anxiety and severity of PTSD were valuated. Frequent dreams in the past 6 months were recorded, using a checklist which was designed based on Hall/Van de Castle test.Results:The mean±SD of age was 38.08 years four most frequent dreams were threatening situations (rather then war events), natural disasters, death and falling down. There was no relation between the level of depression and anxiety and contents of dreams. Patients with more sever PTSD had more dreams including theme of death (P<0.0001).Conclusion:Frequent dreams in patients with chronic PTSD were not related to war experiences .We suggested dissociation as a defense mechanism is a more important factor shaping dreams than war experiences per se.