Dreaming as Therapy

Imagine healing from trauma while you sleep. Traditionally, most people believed patients don’t dream under anesthesia. But recent studies say otherwise. New research shows that not only do patients dream, but these dreams could help mental health.

In March, Stanford University’s Medical School found that two patients felt much better after having anesthesia-induced dreams. This approach is new, and scientists want to study it more. Yet, early signs look promising, showing similarities with psychedelic therapy.

What’s So Special About These Dreams?

Dr. Harrison Chow from Stanford Medical School has seen many patients dream under sedation. He returned to Stanford to study this odd phenomenon. Dr. Chow and his team created a method to generate positive dream states for patients under anesthesia. Special EEG patterns can even identify these dream states.

Dr. Chow told Big Think, “The technique was developed to reduce post-operative sedation and nausea, which dreaming reduces dramatically.” By using light anesthesia, the brain remains active enough to dream. This results in a special “sweet spot” for dreaming.

So far, Dr. Chow’s team surveyed around 930 surgical patients over three years. They logged 625 reports of dreams, which were anything but ordinary.

Positive Dreams and PTSD

Dr. Chow’s team reported on two women with PTSD. One woman, 57, had surgery for a breast lump, and the other, 72, had a parathyroidectomy. They used a mix of propofol and opioids to start the dreams, guiding them with EEG to ensure the right dosage.

Before surgery, both women had recurring nightmares about their lost sons. After the dream states, they felt a deep sense of joy and relief. One month later, neither woman showed PTSD symptoms. They also had fewer nightmares, anxiety, and depression.

One patient “recalled two ‘euphoric’ intra-operative dreams,” said the research team. In one dream, she relived her son’s birth joyfully. In another, she spent time with him as an adult and felt immense relief. The other patient “dreamed about being with her late son and other family members and described the dream as ‘very positive.’”

Psychedelic Therapy Similarities

This new method could help more than just PTSD. Dr. Boris D. Heifets of Stanford noted, “Developing a therapeutic strategy to induce and sustain transformative dream experiences – through EEG-driven anesthetic dosing – holds immense potential for the treatment of mental health disorders.”

In simpler terms, experience matters. Instead of relying just on drugs, reliving intense events under a different mindset can change how you feel about them. One patient said, “There was something about the euphoria that came with this dream that somehow knocked my brain out of those trauma connections.”

Dr. Heifets also pointed out, “There are surprising parallels with psychedelic therapy for PTSD at the level of experiential description, therapeutic outcome, and even EEG signatures of the altered state itself.” In short, this dream therapy shares many benefits with psychedelic treatments, but with less stigma and potentially fewer side effects.

The Future of Dream Therapy

For now, the team is refining their methods and studying more dreams. Dr. Chow said, “Lately, we have generated some of our longest anesthetic dreams (‘super dreams’) which honestly appear more like an 'alternate consciousness event' for these patients.” Upon waking, patients often can’t tell what was real and what was a dream. They usually feel amazing after these dreams.

One PTSD patient said, “[My son’s] being there, surrounding me with his love, his presence – just having this tremendous joy that I’ve been with him and seen him,” but she also felt “tremendous sadness that it was a dream and that I couldn’t actually physically touch him or hold him or have him in my arms.” Another patient said, “My brain really felt like I was with [my son]. I had this dream but a ‘dream’ doesn’t even begin to capture what it was.”

The researchers hope to test this approach outside the operating room. If proven effective, it could become a new way to treat trauma-related issues.