Anyone else kinda enjoy vivid dreams?

[worriedsoul]

Just passed week 6 of 20mg and really starting to notice the vivid dreams

I actually quite like them as it makes me reassured the drug is actually doing something.

I've only had one bad dream where I had an argument with a friend. The rest have been fairly trivial but also so vivid and I remember them so well.

Why do we get them?. Is it something to do with R.E.M. Sleep?

[Hollow]

Usually if you wake up during the R.E.M phase of sleep you tend to remember the dreams. I think anxiety causes people to dream excessively, maybe you are spending too much time in REm phase of sleep.

[Catherine S]

I like my dreams, but I know alot of depressed and anxious people don't. I very rarely have a bad dream thankfully, and alot of mine relate to my past which is probably why I like them so much, they comfort me rather than disturb me, and I can wake up wishing the dreams could go on as they're sometimes better than reality!

ISB ☺

[panic_down_under]

Why do we get them?. Is it something to do with R.E.M. Sleep?

This is a very good question, with lots of theories, but no definitive answer. It is probably REM related.

Antidepressants tend to reduce the total amount of time spent in REM sleep, or reduce its depth, so dreams may occur in less deep stages of sleep which make it easier to become consciously aware of them. I suspect that they aren't any more vivid, or much different in content to what we usually dream during REM, they just seem to be.

I used to enjoy the ones I had when on imipramine, but some get really spooked by them. Changing to a different antidepressant will often stop them.

I was discussing this with someone on RL recently and he found melatonin was effective in eliminating vivid dreaming. I can't say for sure it works, but it may be worth a shot.