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Sleep medicine
Nightmare doctor
A team at Université de Montréal is currently
looking for men and women aged from 18 to 55 years who suffer
from nightmares to evaluate and compare the effectiveness
of different experimental conditions in treating nightmares. “We
want to know if there is a difference in the success rates
of two therapeutic modalities,” explains psychologist
Toré Nielsen, a specialist in sleep disorders and
Professor in the Faculty of Medicine.
From 3% to 4% of people have repeated nightmares. Often
caused by post-traumatic stress or psychological distress,
this phenomenon remains mysterious and is not well treated.
An innovative approach seeks to use the patient’s creativeness
to reduce the frequency and intensity of nightmares. Participants
will be asked to draw pictures of their nightmares according
to precise instructions in an approach called “Drawing-Based
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.”
With their team at the Dream and Nightmare Laboratory at
Sacré-Coeur Hospital in Montréal, Toré Nielsen
and Geneviève Alain, a doctoral student, want to systematically
evaluate the use of drawing in relief from nightmares. In
the study, three treatment groups of 15 persons each who
suffer from a minimum of one nightmare a week will be selected.
This study includes two immediate treatment groups (six weeks
total study length) and one delayed treatment group that
will take ten weeks. The subjects in the delayed treatment
group will receive the treatment that has been shown most
effective.
Toré Nielsen, who has conducted several studies
on dreams, says that up to 10% of university students may
have one nightmare a week, especially during the stressful
periods of the semester. But these are not necessarily cases
of “pathological nightmares.” However, the nightmare
is often the result of traumatism. “We know that individuals
who have suffered a serious psychological shock have more
bad dreams than other people. But the seriousness of the
shock may vary from one person to another, and it is not
always a violent situation: rape, accident, or fight. For
children, the death of a house pet or the threat of moving
can have the same consequences: often the little things make
the difference.”
Geneviève Alain, who is fascinated by dreams, will
use the results from the study for her doctoral thesis. “This
is a clinical study, since in addition to offering a treatment
for nightmares, we are trying to find out how to better identify
the mechanisms operating here that make it possible to determine
the outcome and effectiveness,” she explains.
Information: 514 338-2222, extension 2783.
Email: traitement-cauchemar@crhsc.umontreal.ca
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