The Interplay of Trauma and REM Sleep 🧠
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The Interplay of Trauma and REM Sleep 🧠
An Intricate Web of Neurobiology (5min Read)
TL;DR Summary:
Trauma disrupts REM sleep, leading to heightened emotional distress and intense nightmares.
PTSD/CPTSD sufferers often experience prolonged REM sleep and struggle to reduce emotional intensity in memories.
Therapies and good sleep hygiene can improve REM sleep quality.
Sleep disturbances, a common response to trauma, need to be addressed as part of the healing process.
Further research is needed to fully understand the connection between REM sleep and emotional memory processing.
Welcome Back!
Sleep serves as an oasis, a time of solace and restoration, but for those grappling with the aftermath of traumatic experiences, it often transforms into a nocturnal battlefield.
Trauma fundamentally alters sleep, particularly the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage.
Which can heighten emotional distress and set into motion a challenging cycle that requires conscious efforts to break.
This is exactly what we are going to cover in today’s post, let’s dive in!
The Neurobiological Mechanisms: Trauma and REM Sleep
From a neurobiological standpoint, trauma stimulates hyperactivity in the amygdala, the brain's emotional processing hub, particularly during REM sleep.
This hyperactivation often heightens the emotional intensity of dreams and nightmares.
Simultaneously, the prefrontal cortex, generally responsible for regulating the amygdala and tempering emotional responses, exhibits diminished activity in individuals suffering from PTSD/CPTSD.
This imbalance can trigger unregulated fear responses, thereby contributing to traumatic nightmares.
The REM Sleep Disruption: A Consequence of Trauma
REM sleep is the phase where we dream, processing a broad spectrum of emotional experiences from the joyful to the distressing.
Under normal conditions, the REM sleep intervals lengthen as the night unfolds, accounting for most of the latter half of the sleep cycle.
However, for survivors of trauma, this rhythm is frequently disrupted.
In particular, individuals diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Complex PTSD, often experience prolonged REM sleep.
This extension can provoke more intense, recurrent, and vivid nightmares, leading to a substantial disturbance in the sleep cycle.
These nightmares often serve as nocturnal reenactments of the traumatic incidents, escalating anxiety about sleep and exacerbating the fear of nightmares, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle of sleep disturbances.
Emotional “Discharge” & REM Sleep Research
There is a large body of research that suggests that trauma and related conditions like PTSD/CPTSD can disrupt the normal functioning of REM sleep.
Which has been shown to affect the processing and "discharge" of emotional memories.
During REM sleep, the brain typically processes emotional information and aids in the consolidation of emotional memories, thereby reducing their emotional intensity.
However, this process, known as "emotional memory processing" or "fear extinction," appears to be disrupted in trauma victims or those with PTSD/CPTSD.
Numerous studies indicate that people with PTSD/CPTSD exhibit alterations in REM sleep, such as extended duration, increased REM density, and an earlier onset of the first REM period.
These alterations are believed to be associated with increased intensity and frequency of nightmares, a prevalent symptom of PTSD/CPTSD.
People with PTSD/CPTSD frequently re-experience traumatic events during REM sleep, resulting in heightened fear responses that might inhibit the standard emotional processing that typically occurs during this sleep stage.
Consequently, this could increase the difficulty in discharging or reducing the emotional intensity of traumatic memories, leading to heightened daytime distress and potentially exacerbating PTSD/CPTSD symptoms.
Healing through Knowledge
This research highlights the importance of addressing sleep disturbances as a component of a comprehensive approach to treating trauma and PTSD/CPTSD.
This can enhance emotional well-being and catalyze the healing process.
Therapies such as Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing & EMDR can help in reducing nightmares and improving REM sleep quality, potentially enhancing the processing and discharge of traumatic memories.
Additionally, adopting mindfulness practices and maintaining proper sleep hygiene can foster healthier sleep patterns.
Nevertheless, we need more research to completely understand the complex relationship between REM sleep and emotional memory processing.
This kind of research can help us develop more effective interventions for trauma and PTSD-related sleep disturbances.
I’d also like to mention that these kinds of sleep disturbances are not personal failures…
They are typical responses to intense emotional experiences!
Sweet Dreams
Sleep disturbances are one of the most common issues I see pop up for people struggling with trauma.
This is sad because sleep is one of the best ways to repair a damaged brain, which is why it’s vital to be aware of the effect trauma can have on your sleep, so you can take preventative measures!
If you or someone you know is struggling with these kinds of things, I would be more than happy to chat w/ you for free.
If you’re dealing with this, consider this blog as your first step in healing.
Getting your sleep figured out is one of the highest ROI things you can do on this journey!
You’ve got this.
Until next time… Live Heroically! 🧠
Supporting Research
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Mellman, T. A., Kulick-Bell, R., Ashlock, L. E., & Nolan, B. (1995). Sleep events among veterans with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder. The American journal of psychiatry, 152(1), 110-115. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.152.1.110
Germain, A., Buysse, D. J., & Nofzinger, E. (2008). Sleep-specific mechanisms underlying posttraumatic stress disorder: Integrative review and neurobiological hypotheses. Sleep medicine reviews, 12(3), 185-195. DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.09.003
Lanius, R. A., Vermetten, E., Loewenstein, R. J., Brand, B., Schmahl, C., Bremner, J. D., & Spiegel, D. (2010). Emotion modulation in PTSD: Clinical and neurobiological evidence for a dissociative subtype. American Journal of Psychiatry, 167(6), 640-647. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2009.09081168
Shin, L. M., & Liberzon, I. (2010). The neurocircuitry of fear, stress, and anxiety disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology, 35(1), 169-191. DOI: 10.1038/npp.2009.83
Spoormaker, V. I., & Montgomery, P. (2008). Disturbed sleep in post-traumatic stress disorder: Secondary symptom or core feature?. Sleep medicine reviews, 12(3), 169-184. DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.08.008
Krakow, B., Hollifield, M., Johnston, L., Koss, M., Schrader, R., Warner, T. D., ... & Prince, H. (2001). Imagery rehearsal therapy for chronic nightmares in sexual assault survivors with posttraumatic stress disorder: a randomized controlled trial. Jama, 286(5), 537-545. DOI: 10.1001/jama.286.5.537
Shapiro, F. (2014). The role of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in medicine: addressing the psychological and physical symptoms stemming from adverse life experiences. The Permanente Journal, 18(1), 71. DOI: 10.7812/TPP/13-098
Black, D. S., O'Reilly, G. A., Olmstead, R., Breen, E. C., & Irwin, M. R. (2015). Mindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbances: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA internal medicine, 175(4), 494-501. DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8081 -