Women Have More Nightmares Than Men, Study Shows

[ismnotwasm]

ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2009) — A researcher from the University of the West of England was inspired by her own nightmares and a chance encounter at a lecture to examine more closely the stuff that dreams are made of. Her PhD study has focused on an astounding discovery that women suffer more nightmares then men.
As a mature student Dr Jennie Parker was interested in looking at some aspect of psychology for her PhD study and it was at a lecture about dreams, given by former UWE researcher Dr Susan Blackmore that she had a moment of epiphany.

Dr Parker explains, “My own nightmares had two reoccurring themes, one concerned standing on the beach at Weston Super Mare, my home town, when the tide suddenly goes out very fast and returns as a huge tidal wave that is about to engulf me. The other dream includes a dinosaur roaming the streets at night and looking in at my window. I wondered if my experience was common amongst women.”


http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090128104535.htm


Another great one in ScienceDaily. (Slightly sarcastic smilie here)Now, who want to to elucidate causes? Or does it go a simple 'no shit' or perhaps a 'bullshit' pile?

I'm tending to believe it. Oh yes I do.

[lightningandsnow]

1. Perhaps women are more likely to remember their dreams,

for some reason or another?

Almost everyone, barring a serious sleep disorder, has dreams every night - it's just a question of remembering them or not. Maybe women, on average, tend to have better memories than men (although one should not mistake general trends for being true in every individual).

Another thing it could possibly tie to is the prevalence of PTSD in women, due to widespread rates of sexual assault and relationship violence.

Kind of fascinating, really.

[ismnotwasm]

4. I've always wished I had the self discipline needed

To develop lucid dreaming. I've had that experience once or twice on accident, and it's a trip.

The thing about me and dreaming is, when I was a little girl, I had nightmares. Not night terrors, but nightmares that continues until I taught myself how to wake up from them at 11 or 12. To this day, I don't remember dreams well, but certain recurrent themes will reoccur, and I wake uncomfortable, but not afraid. Many of them center around the house I was raised in. Always an irritant.

So it is fascinating to me personally, since from what I can tell, I dream a little bit differently than some people.

Now the reasons for these early nightmares are even more interesting to speculate. I didn't for years, since I just wanted to forget about them.

[MountainLaurel]

2. I wonder also

If the fact that women are more likely to suppress negative emotions (Good girls don't get angry. . .") plays a role. I know it's a factor in the problems I've had over the years with waking-up-screaming nightmares over the years.

[ismnotwasm]

3. It's interesting to speculate

Women generally live in fear of some sort, fear of rape, of attack, of being unattractive-- you know all that. It affects how we think and feel. Overcoming those fears takes a certain sacrifice and is very challenging.

We are expected to be endless repositories of "positive" emotions such as empathy, kindness, concern, caring, nurturing. I have all these things in abundance, and I'm very glad for them. I appreciate them for what they are. But I know who and what I am besides these things. Thank. God.

We all bitches if we aren't, at least that's what they call us. Then we call ourselves bitches with a certain glee, quite possibly because it frees us from having to be nice and feminine and female and shit. Or we stay what the standard model for "feminine" is, and still be bitches because that's the only way we know how to express those "negative" emotions males get to, like assertiveness or aggression along with what some consider a in your face sexuality. (right. then we get called other things) We attempt to look like the Pussycat Dolls on "girls" night out.


(sigh)
(Doesn't work, my imaginary speculative ladies, or rather, it's not a permanent solution. Or even a good one. It's the one you're allowed, and merely another chain of patriarchy)


I am taking a Med/Surg certification course in Nursing, (Dollar an hour more once I'm accredited-- I love these little goals)one of the first learning models was Nursing and caring. The women presenter had designed an excellent model, but was too touchy feely for me to listen to without squirming in my chair. By the time she got to the part where in nursing caring sometimes means being very assertive and telling patients, for example, that if they continue a certain behavior, death or injury is the most likely outcome I'd been "cared and caring" to sleep.

When people say things like "Why are we nurses? Because we want to help people right? My response is always "I thought it was because we like to pick scabs"


Ah, nightmares. Time to re-read a little Jung--the parts I can understand-- perhaps.

[ismnotwasm]

5. Talked to a nurse I know

A very smart professor. Her response was, "well I'm not surprised, women have less apnea then men, and snore less. When your sleep is interrupted, your's sleep cycle will kind of concentrate you tend to have more nightmares. I wonder what would happen if the study was done with single women vs married women. If it's environment as apposed to a gender issue. I bet it's environmental, and you'd get different results with single women"

I didn't even think of that one, bet it's a factor.