Nightmares are useful, but when they recur too frequently, they can cause unease, insomnia, and even depression. A guide to a new therapy that has proved its worth.

WHAT DREAMS DO

When we dream at night, we “digest” the stresses, joys, and fears we experience by day. Nightmares are part of this process of working through emotions, drawing on our most anxiety-inducing memories.

WHEN NIGHTMARES TAKE OVER

Sometimes, our brains get things wrong. Nightmares can become recurrent or even chronic, triggering a vicious cycle. We are scared of going to sleep and stress accumulates, encouraging nightmares to return. Insomnia and emotional distress or even depression are the direct consequence of these bad dreams, affecting between 2% and 6% of the population.

A THERAPY TO OVERCOME NIGHTMARES

In years past, psychoanalysis was the only treatment available, and could last for years. Today, a new technique validated in Canada and the United States, Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT for short), takes just a few short weeks. It aims to transform the nightmare’s negative scenario into a positive one, using the links between vision, imagination, and dreaming.

A FIRST FOR FRANCE

Six months into the therapy, 70% of patients felt they were cured. This treatment guide talks readers through how dreams work. In a very clear, accessible style, it explains how to keep a sleep diary and develop a capacity for visual imagination.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK?

Anyone who has suffered a traumatic event such as an accident, sexual assault, or violence, may develop a form of post-traumatic stress disorder that is expressed by recurrent nightmares. More commonly, anyone experiencing stress or conflict at work or at home can be affected, as are those who suffer from anxiety due to current world events, magnified by the twenty-four hour news cycle.