Traumatic dreams in a women's prison setting.

OBJECTIVE: This study was constructed to (a) ascertain the incidence and character of traumatic dreams in a women's prison, (b) determine whether this was associated strongly with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); and (c) determine whether this symptom was being treated. METHOD: Inmates at a women's prison in Wisconsin were surveyed. RESULTS: The response rate was > 75% for the available population. Greater than 88% of the respondents had experienced a traumatic event; > 45% had experienced six or more. Seventy-four percent of the inmates were experiencing traumatic dreams at the time of the survey. Many (> 30%) experienced these nightly and as extreme (19%). Of inmates experiencing traumatic dreams, only about 50% were diagnosed with PTSD, and of these, 84% were willing to obtain treatment, not yet provided. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high incidence in this women's prison of traumatic dreams. This is far more prevalent than the diagnosis of PTSD. This symptom may be undertreated by prison mental health professionals both behaviorally and pharmacologically and should become a mental health screening question on admission despite the presence or absence of a diagnosis of PTSD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Open Outcome Study of Prazosin in a Prison Female Population With Traumatic Dreams.

The objective of this study was to evaluate patient and clinician assessment of the efficacy of prazosin in the treatment of recurring traumatic dreams in a female prison population. Inmates with recurring traumatic dreams were queried regarding trauma dream frequency, dream intensity, return to sleep postdream, and the quality of their sleep. They were asked to rate this after prazosin treatment and retrospectively at the time they began treatment. Clinicians were asked to evaluate the severity of patient illness before and after prazosin treatment and global improvement after prazosin treatment. Modal ratings for dream frequency dropped during the course of prazosin treatment, modal intensity dropped, modal awake time after the trauma dreams dropped, and normal sleep increased. This study suggests that prazosin is a highly effective treatment for female inmates with recurring traumatic dreams.