Sleep Locks In Bad Memories, Emotions

[Shadow]

Sleeping after a traumatic event might lock in bad memories and emotions, a new study has found.
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst asked more than 100 healthy adults to rate their emotional responses to a series of images, some depicting unsettling scenes. Twelve hours later, they rated the images again. The difference: Half of the subjects slept during the break; the other half did not.

"Not only did sleep protect the memory, but it also protected the emotional reaction," said Rebecca Spencer, a neuroscientist at UMass Amherst and co-author of the study that was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Study subjects who stayed awake for 12 hours had a weaker emotional response to the unsettling images the second time around, suggesting sleep serves to preserve and even amplify negative emotions. Their memories were also weaker than those of their well-rested counterparts, as they struggled to remember whether they had seen the images before.

"It's true that 'sleeping on it' is usually a good thing to do," said Spencer, citing evidence that sleep boosts memory and other cognitive functions. "It's just when something truly traumatic or out of the ordinary happens that you might want to stay awake."
Spencer said people often find it difficult to sleep after a traumatic event.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/SleepNe...ry?id=15377705

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[CSM]

Any combat vet could have told them that!

[Shadow]

I would agree...kind of an obvious conclusion isn't it. When a person dreams,they usually relay the stressful events in their life or surpressed emotions. And if you experience a real life event that was pretty traumatic then you may be prone to post traumatic nightmares. It's said that dreams like these are actually coping mechanisms. Here they are saying it's best not to sleep right away after an emotional event.

One of the ways people who suffer with depression try to cope with stress is by sleeping. It's probably a natual reaction IMO.

[CSM]

I would agree...kind of an obvious conclusion isn't it. When a person dreams,they usually relay the stressful events in their life or surpressed emotions. And if you experience a real life event that was pretty traumatic then you may be prone to post traumatic nightmares. It's said that dreams like these are actually coping mechanisms. Here they are saying it's best not to sleep right away after an emotional event.

One of the ways people who suffer with depression try to cope with stress is by sleeping. It's probably a natual reaction IMO.

Agreed, although I can tell you that after some of my personal "stressful events", it was impossible NOT to sleep. They mention a twelve hour period after the event. It has been decades and I still have post traumatic nightmares!

I just thought it was comical that they are doing this study in a pristine enverinment. Combat in particular can foster a string/series of traumatic events over extended periods and ya gotta sleep sometime during that period.

[Gaffer]

I wonder if they factored in how much sleep the people got and if some were awakened after a certain amount of time. The amount of sleep may play a factor in this.

[Shadow]

I wonder if they factored in how much sleep the people got and if some were awakened after a certain amount of time. The amount of sleep may play a factor in this.

Is that because people who are sleep deprived are prone to nightmares and hallucinations or another reason?

[SassyLady]

A lot of children are molested while they are sleeping....and grow up afraid of sleep. I cannot sleep at night without ambien...diagnosed with PTSD, hyper-vigilant ... from being sexually abused as a child.

[DragonStryk72]

I would agree...kind of an obvious conclusion isn't it. When a person dreams,they usually relay the stressful events in their life or surpressed emotions. And if you experience a real life event that was pretty traumatic then you may be prone to post traumatic nightmares. It's said that dreams like these are actually coping mechanisms. Here they are saying it's best not to sleep right away after an emotional event.

One of the ways people who suffer with depression try to cope with stress is by sleeping. It's probably a natual reaction IMO.

I'm more inclined to believe in dreams as a coping mechanism. There was another study done a few years ago that actually proved that we don't need sleep for rest. After all, brain activity is actually pretty high while we're sleeping, and we use less while watching TV. As it turns out, we need sleep in order to dream. Dreaming helps on a psychological level, even it we don't consciously remember our dreams.

[Shadow]

I'm more inclined to believe in dreams as a coping mechanism. There was another study done a few years ago that actually proved that we don't need sleep for rest. After all, brain activity is actually pretty high while we're sleeping, and we use less while watching TV. As it turns out, we need sleep in order to dream. Dreaming helps on a psychological level, even it we don't consciously remember our dreams.

I think studying and interpreting your dreams is very interesting (and enlightening). For a period of time several years ago I used to keep a dream diary and interpret the dream symbols and meanings of my dreams. I found that things I had surpressed for many years still showed up in my dreams and were obviously unresolved.

Also... Kind of makes me think of an article I read about early man...researchers believe that post traumatic dreams taught our ancestors the theory behind fight or flight and certain survival techniques. When they witnessed a traumatic event, such as a brutal attack or death (maybe due to animals or enemies)...those dreams kept them alert to not repeat the same mistakes or errors.