Understanding posttraumatic nightmares: an empirical and conceptual review.

Abstract

Posttraumatic nightmares (PTNMs) are a highly prevalent and distressing symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet have been subject to limited phenomenological investigation. As a result, the parameters of the symptom required to meet diagnostic criterion for PTSD are unclear and their relationship with normal dreams following trauma is not known. A categorical distinction between PTNMs and normal dreams has been assumed, explicitly within dreaming theories and perhaps implicitly within the PTSD field, but lacks empirical support. This paper reviews the current understanding of PTNMs and normal dreams following trauma within the PTSD and dreaming fields respectively. It is argued ..