Treatment of Nightmares Related to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in an Adolescent Rape Victim

Abstract

Nightmares are a common response to a traumatic event and are one symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder. Although several treatments are currently available for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder, few studies report the efficacy of such treatments for nightmares. The current case involves the treatment of an adolescent rape victim who was involved in a treatment that targeted posttraumatic stress disorder and panic attacks. Following this treatment, the adolescent continued to report the experience of nightmares several times per week. The adolescent was then treated with a three-session cognitive behavioral treatment package involving relaxation procedures, exposure to the nightmare content, and rescripting the nightmare. At the one-month and three-month follow-up sessions, the patient reported a decrease in the intensity and frequency of nightmares. In this case it appeared necessary to include exposure and to target salient trauma-related themes in the rescripted dream.

Cognitive‐behavioral treatment for chronic nightmares in trauma‐exposed persons: assessing physiological reactions to nightmare‐related fear

“…ERRT is a brief, three-session treatment that directly targets nightmares in trauma-exposed persons. A case study (Davis, De Arellano, Falsetti, & Resnick, 2003), a case series (Davis & Wright, 2005), and a randomized controlled trial (Davis & Wright, 2007) have previously demonstrated the efficacy of ERRT on other outcome measures. Specifically, immediate improvements (1 week posttreatment) were noted in the reported frequency and severity of nightmares, sleep problems, PTSD symptom frequency and severity, feeling rested upon wakening, and depression, with treatment gains persisting to the 6-month followup (e.g., only 16% reporting a nightmare in the previous week; Davis & Wright).…”

Physiological Predictors of Response to Exposure, Relaxation, and Rescripting Therapy for Chronic Nightmares in a Randomized Clinical Trial

“…[6][7][8] Therefore, CN may pose a pernicious health problem independent of other psychopathology. Preliminary evidence suggests that psychological treatments which broadly target PTSD may have limited impact on sleep disturbances, [9][10][11][12][13] and pharmacological treatments appear to have little effect 14 or only a palliative effect 15 for some individuals. Thus, cognitive behavioral approaches specifi cally addressing sleep disturbances are now being evaluated in trauma-exposed samples.…”

Mental Imagery and its Relevance for Psychopathology and Psychological Treatment in Children and Adolescents: a Systematic Review

“…The treatments comprised between one and four sessions. In two studies, IR was incorporated into a cognitive behavioral treatment of sleeping disorders (Davis et al 2003;Fernandez et al 2013). Fernandez et al (2013) treated two cases (8 and 11 years.)…”