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Dream Incorporation of a Sentinel Life Event and
Its Relation to Waking Adaptation
Rosalind Cartwright, Ph.D., Paul Newell, Ph.D., and Patricia Mercer, Ph.D.
This is a preliminary report on a study testing the adaptive theory of dreaming.Dreams
of the first 12 subjects to complete a longitudinal study of volunteers untreated for an
episode of major depression related to a marital break-up were recorded on four occasions
during an eight month period.Nine went into remission and three failed to improve by the
end of the study.These differed in ability to create and recall well-constructed dreams.
Dream ability on the first night of REM awakenings was significantly correlated to the wak-
ing level of adjustment at follow-up.Eighty-nine percent of dreams in which the failed mar-
riage or former spouse was incorporated into the dream scenario were scored as well-
developed on the Dream-like Fantasy Scale.The affect of these Incorporation dreams was
rated as Neutral or Negative with dampened affect intensity at the beginning of the study
when the subjects were most depressed and as Pleasant when they occurred on the last
month.These positive Incorporation dreams expressed pleasure in independence and dis-
engagement in feeling about the former spouse.These findings are supportive of there
being individual differences in an ability to form dreams that connect present affect related
to a disturbing event to other images.A high level of this ability is predictive of improve-
ment in waking functioning.(Sleep and Hypnosis 2001;3(1):25-32)
| Keywords: dream incorporation, depression, dream function, stress, adaptation,
divorce |
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