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Dream Deprivation
Dream deprivation (also known as insufficient dreaming or dreamlessness) is the condition of not dreaming adequately. In general, a dream is a series of thoughts, images and sensations occurring in a person’s mind. The scientific study of dreaming is called Oneirology. It occurs in distinct stages in the sleep cycle, especially during Rapid Eye Movement Sleep in the early morning hours. In this stage, dreams appear to be most vivid and elaborate. Dreams are associated with subliminal processing such as memory consolidation and emotional self-regulation. A disturbance of these essential properties leads to psychological as well as physical symptoms which affect behaviour mostly negatively. The first experiments focused on dreaming started in 1960 by William C. Dement, which contributed to the strong associative understanding of REM-sleep and dreaming. Recent studies did not only consider the sources of dreaming but also the threats of insufficiency. As Rubin Laiman suggested, REM/dream loss is an unrecognized public health hazard that silently wreaks havoc with our lives, contributing to illness, depression, and erosion of consciousness.

Symptoms
Common symptoms that may result from dream deprivation include psychological disturbances such as:


 * Anxiety


 * Irritability
 * Difficulty in concentration
 * Intensity of feeling
 * Memory disturbance.

Some subjects suffered from periods of depersonalization. In extreme cases a persistent change in personality might occur.

Furthermore dream deprivation could result in physical symptoms like increased appetite and weight gain. In addition to that, disruption of motor coordination may appear. Participants also showed a pressure to dream with accruing dream deficit which manifested itself in increasing frequency of attempts to dream and marked increase in total dream time. Other participants in dream deprivation studies were also not able to define a clear boundary between sleep and waking. Moreover dream deprived subjects reported dreams with more vivid content compared to dream content prior to the deprivation interval. In severe cases subjects may experience disturbances in their relationship to reality.

Causes
REM Sleep Deprivation. At the moment most scientists believe that the biggest cause for dream deprivation is REM sleep deprivation. The longest phases of REM sleep occur at the end of the night in the early morning. A minority of researchers and sleep experts believe that dreaming is occurring in REM and non-REM sleep phases. The research about dream deprivation is getting more popular. So further insights about this phenomenon can be expected. There are five reasons for REM sleep deprivation. Alcohol and cannabis are often used to fall asleep, but they disturb REM sleep phases. Sleeping pills are another factor. In America 60 million people have prescribed sleeping pills. They make people tired and drowsy but disturb the normal sleeping cycles including REM sleep phases. Lifestyle changed a lot in the last decades. People have more artificial light in their bedrooms like smartphone screens. The perceived stress level increased as well. Finally the zeitgeist is deprecating dreaming. Dream deprivation can also be seen through psychoanalytic theory introduced by Wilfred Bion. According to him, humans dream when they are awake and asleep. Dream deprivation occurs due to an absence of the ability to transform raw sensory data into unconscious data that can be stored and later connected to other unconscious elements through emotional linkages. Dreams can only be classified as dreams if unconscious psychological work is involved in the process. Bion also introduces the idea that dream is the cause of falling asleep and not vice versa. Dreaming enables humans to distinguish between consciousness and unconsciousness. Therefore the cause of dream deprivation is the inability of the latter.
 * Consumption of alcohol, cannabis and other substances
 * Prescription of sleeping pills
 * Suffering from sleep disorders
 * Lifestyle factors like stress and artificial light at night
 * Disregard for dreams and dreaming

Treatment
The essential sleep phase for dreaming is REM sleep, it is especially significant to enhance the quality of this phase and therefore enhance your chance of dreaming again. Since there has not been extensive research on the topic yet, possible treatment forms still need to be developed. But, due to the fact that REM is a natural, innate process, it is important to abolish factors that intervene with the natural process. Many specialists suggest to engage in practices and routines that enhance the quality of REM/dreaming, for example:
 * Control of substance and medication use
 * No caffeine, nicotine, alcohol


 * Use bed only for sleeping
 * De-stress during day
 * Exercise
 * Routine before going to bed: classical conditioning
 * No bright screens at night
 * Only sleep when you feel the desire to do so