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Nightmares The Science and Solution of Those Frightening Visions during Sleep

Patrick McNamara

Book Code: C34512

ISBN: 0-313-34512-0

ISBN-13: 978-0-313-34512-8

DOI:

200 pages, figure; tables

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 7/30/2008

List Price: $44.95 (UK Sterling Price: £22.95)

Availability: Not yet published. (Estimated publication date, 7/30/2008)

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Series Title: Brain, Behavior, and Evolution

Description: We've nearly all been there--awakened with a pounding heart by frightening scenes that seem real, but were conjured up and existed only in the sleeping mind. Nightmares affect people across countries and cultures, with some 10 percent of the world's population reporting recurrent nightmares. Parents have reported, and science has recorded, nightmares in children as young as 18 months. Up to 40 percent of children aged 2 to 12 experience nightmares, as do some 35 percent of veterans and 50 percent of adults with chronic illness. With this book, a psychologist widely known in his field shows how nightmares evolved and were useful to ancestral populations, and why nightmares may carry beneficial functional effects even today for people who suffer from the pulse-pumping dreams. McNamara brings us up to date on the biology of a nightmare and what, specifically, happens in the brain during the event. He also explains the history and development of nightmares and likely causes, including traumatic events, psychological and physical disorders, and commonly consumed medications. Many examples of nightmares are presented and explained. The content of nightmares is given unusually detailed attention, and the latest science on nightmares is succinctly reviewed. Tables in every chapter summarize existing findings and conclusions on nightmares, and strategies for dealing with nightmares are described. In this novel view, McNamara shows why, rather than being harmful, nightmares can be a helpful adaptive system. The special theme of "spirit possession," which frequently occurs in nightmares, is discussed and related to similar themes in horror movies and horror fiction.

Table of Contents:

Table of Contents
Figures and Tables
Preface and Acknowledgements
Chapter 1. Approach to the study of nightmares
Chapter 2. Why do nightmares occur in children?
Chapter 3. Content of nightmares
Chapter 4. Nightmares in pre-modern societies
Chapter 5. Biology of nightmares
Chapter 6. Personality and psychopathological correlates of nightmares
Chapter 7. Phenomenology of the nightmare
Chapter 8. Theoretical accounts of the nightmare
Chapter 9: Nightmares and popular culture
Chapter 10: Interpretation of the possession theme in nightmares
Chapter 11: Conflict theory and the nightmare
Concluding Remarks
Appendix: Additional Resources
References
Index

LC Card Number: 2008009925

LCC Class: BF1099

Dewey Class: 154

PDF Catalogs:
Praeger Public Library Spring 2008.pdf


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