Provides information on drug related dreams of drug users who are
trying to quit the habit. Implications of having such dreams; Freud's
theory of dreams; Knowledge to be used to prevent dreams from being a
reality.
By
Annie Murphy Paul, published on January 01, 1998
Drug users who are trying to quit their habit should hope that
their dreamsdon't come true, according to two British researchers. Their
study of more than a hundred addicts shows that drug-related dreams are
common among people trying to stay clean, and that the frequency of such
dreams may predict who will begin using again.
Christine Franey, Ph.D., and George Christo of the Centre for
Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour in London, found that 85 percent
of their subjects--who had all been abstinent for at least six
weeks--reported having drug-related dreams (a median of 2.4 dreams a
month). At a six-month follow-up, those who'd earlier had a high number
of drug-related dreams were more likely to have resumed their drug use.
This was especially true of cocaine addicts, the researchers say, perhaps
because of "the particularly powerful reinforcing effects of
crack."
These dreams "could be explained by Freud's theory of dreams being
the fulfillment of an unacceptable, and therefore repressed, unconscious
wish," write Christo and Franey in the journal Substance Use &
Misuse. They think it's likely, however, that the dreams are simply
memory cues which may prompt an increased desire to use drugs. Those who
reported many drug-related dreams, they note, also experienced heightened
feelings of craving.
During sleep, the researchers speculate, the brain's "higher"
cognitive processes may be inactive, allowing the pleasure centers that
drive addictive behavior to get the upper hand. Drug-related dreams,
then, can serve as a warning to the waking mind that cravings, and the
likelihood of relapse, are on the rise--knowledge that addicts and
doctors can use to prevent dream from becoming reality.
ILLUSTRATION
Tags:
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british researchers,
christo,
cocaine addicts,
cognitive processes,
craving,
cravings,
dreams,
drug abuse,
drug users,
franey,
habit,
health behaviour,
likelihood,
median,
memory cues,
pleasure centers,
recovery,
six weeks,
sleep,
substance use
