Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-g98kq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-03-27T04:51:25.914Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Dissociative symptoms and REM sleep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 November 2013

Dalena van Heugten-van der Kloet ,
Harald Merckelbach  and
Steven Jay Lynn
Dalena van Heugten-van der Kloet
Affiliation:
Forensic Psychology Section, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. Dalena.vanderkloet@maastrichtuniversity.nl H.Merckelbach@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Harald Merckelbach
Affiliation:
Forensic Psychology Section, Maastricht University, Maastricht 6200 MD, The Netherlands. Dalena.vanderkloet@maastrichtuniversity.nl H.Merckelbach@maastrichtuniversity.nl
Steven Jay Lynn
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY 13902. stevenlynn100@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Llewellyn has written a fascinating article about rapid eye movement (REM) dreams and how they promote the elaborative encoding of recent memories. The main message of her article is that hyperassociative and fluid cognitive processes during REM dreaming facilitate consolidation. We consider one potential implication of this analysis: the possibility that excessive or out-of-phase REM sleep fuels dissociative symptomatology. Further research is warranted to explore the psychopathological ramifications of Llewellyn's theory.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 36 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 630 - 631
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Bernstein, E. M. & Putnam, F. W. (1986) Development, reliability, and validity of a dissociation scale. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 174:727–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dalenberg, C. J., Brand, B. L., Gleaves, D. H., Dorahy, M. J., Loewenstein, R. J., Cardeña, E., Frewen, P. A., Carlson, E. B., & Spiegel, D. (2012) Evaluation of the evidence for the trauma and fantasy models of dissociation. Psychological Bulletin 138:550–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giesbrecht, T., Smeets, T., Leppink, J., Jelicic, M. & Merckelbach, H. (2007) Acute dissociation after 1 night of sleep loss. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 116:599–606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hacking, I. (1995) Rewriting the soul: Multiple personality and the sciences. Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koffel, E. & Watson, D. (2009) The two-factor structure of sleep complaints and its relation to depression and anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 118:183–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lynn, S. J., Lilienfeld, S. O., Merckelbach, H., Giesbrecht, T. & Van der Kloet, D. (2012) Dissociation and dissociative disorders: Challenging conventional wisdom. Current Directions in Psychological Science 21:48–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Kloet, D., Franck, E., Van Gastel, A., De Volder, I., Van Den Eede, F., Verschuere, B. & Merckelbach, H. (2013) Dissociative symptoms and sleep parameters: An all-night polysomnography study in patients with insomnia. Comprehensive Psychiatry 54:658–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van der Kloet, D., Giesbrecht, T., Lynn, S. J., Merckelbach, H. & de Zutter, A. (2012a) Sleep normalization and decreases in dissociative experiences: Evaluation in an inpatient sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 121:140–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van der Kloet, D., Merckelbach, H., Giesbrecht, T. & Lynn, S. J. (2012b) Fragmented sleep, fragmented mind: The role of sleep in dissociative symptoms. Perspectives on Psychological Science 7:159–75.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, D. (2001) Dissociations of the night: Individual differences in sleep-related experiences and their relation to dissociation and schizotypy. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 110:536–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed