Posted by Dwight on May 29, 1999, at 0:46:25
In reply to Re: Parnate. no nightmares, posted by Elizabeth on May 27, 1999, at 22:31:59
I have also noticed that I don't dream much on on MAOIs, though this seems to be dose related, and I don't think it necessarily blocks all REM sleep. This whole issue is rather disturbing/interesting if you consider the emphasis that psychoanalysis has put on dreams. I have sometimes wondered if these drugs work by supressing the unconscious. Does this mean that anti-depressants might prevent people from working out their unconscious conflicts?
> > > Oh, the subject: field for this thread made me think of one other thing: no nightmares on Parnate! No dreams at all actually. :-(
> >
> > That sometimes is an indication that the dose is an effective one...
>
> Yeah. It kind of sucks. I miss my dreams.
>
> To everyone: most effective antidepressants suppress REM sleep, which is associated with vivid dreams, to some degree. MAOIs abolish it completely. That's why they work so well in narcolepsy - and probably in depression too. (The hypothesis has been put forth that narcolepsy and depression have similar mechanisms but in different parts of the brain, or something like that - perhaps someone who has more of a clue about neuroanatomy than I do could elaborate on this one.)
poster:Dwight
thread:6524
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990601/msgs/6784.html