TY  -  JOUR
AU  -  Quartini, Adele
AU  -  Anastasia, Annalisa
AU  -  Bersani, Francesco Saverio
AU  -  Melcore, Claudia
AU  -  Albano, Gabriella
AU  -  Colletti, Chiara
AU  -  Valeriani, Giuseppe
AU  -  Bersani, Giuseppe
T1  -  Changes in dream experience in relation with antidepressant escitalopram treatment in depressed female patients: a preliminary study
PY  -  2014
Y1  -  2014-07-01
DO  -  10.1708/1600.17460
JO  -  Rivista di Psichiatria
JA  -  Riv Psichiatr
VL  -  49
IS  -  4
SP  -  187
EP  -  191
PB  -  Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore
SN  -  2038-2502
Y2  -  2026/04/19
UR  -  http://dx.doi.org/10.1708/1600.17460
N2  -  Introduzione. Sleep disturbances have long been considered as a cardinal symptom of endogenous depression and dreams in depressed patients usually differ from those of healthy people. The aim of the present study was to investigate dream subjective experiences and their modifications in relation to clinical response in a group of escitalopram-treated depressed patients. Methods. Twenty-seven female patients meeting DSM-IV-TR criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and starting SSRI therapy were included in the study. Data about psychopathological status and dreaming subjective experiences were collected at baseline (T0), 4 weeks after the beginning of the treatment (T1) and after further 4 weeks of therapy (T2). Results. At T0 dream experience was impaired and negatively toned. Concomitantly with the decrease of symptoms severity, the 8-week escitalopram treatment yielded to significant improvements in the recall of both quantity and quality of dreams; those patients whit lower clinical benefits kept on reporting impaired dream experiences. Discussion. The results of the present study evidence how the changes in some specific dreaming characteristics, such as the subjective recall of dream activity, the dream recall quality, the dream emotional content and the dream complexity represent reliable markers of the effectiveness of antidepressant therapy.
ER  -