Oneiroid syndrome

Oneiroide are complex dreams, in which the experiencer feels himself to be awake and he can not distinguish from the waking state, even after the fact. From Oneiroide is when people are days or weeks can not be addressed with an unremarkable neurophysiological findings.

Word Meaning

The word Oneiroid comes from the Greek word " oneiros ", which means " dream ". The suffix -id changes the meaning of the word "like a dream" or " something dreamlike ". The term has been introduced in 1924 by Mayer - Gross, a Heidelberg psychopathologists, in the German -speaking psychiatry.

Description

The experiencer does not perceive during the oneiroid experience the outside world but a dream events in which he participates actively or passively, and in its unity the character of "another world " gets to him. He takes his own ego true almost normal, is monitored, can unusually clear and accurate recall, but can not usually control the experience. The images of Oneiroide have intense colors.

Most who experienced scenes are threatening and reflect the complete mercy of the disease, the environment and threatening imminent death resist. They go hand in hand with predominantly negative, often anguished feelings. The three dominant themes are: to be a prisoner to have done something wrong to justify the imprisonment and the subject of death. Again and again seems fantastically dressed their own lives by. This often dramatic memories, but have no connection with reality, reported.

• " In a first still taking place in the ICU conversation it became clear that VS virtually no memory of the actual events in the ICU during ventilation time possessed. Instead, he described repeatedly interrupted by violent weeping, for the most part dramatic series of events that have been experienced in the mode of indubitable experience reality. He stressed several times that the described experiences are not the usual dream experience comparable. Despite the drama of the experiences he had as usual experienced everything in everyday life. V.S. said he had witnessed him friendly neighbors linked by stray soldiers had been shot in her own home. Only his wife can convince them that these neighbors are still alive and it was all a terrible nightmare him during a visit. "
• Another ill thought to have experienced the death of his son and welcomed him when he visited her in the hospital, with disbelief, "You 're alive yet "

Due to the realism of the experience it takes some time until the person concerned can be convinced of the unreality of experiences.

Causes and frequency

Oneiroide occur when patients are unresponsive for days with a functioning brain.

They occur for example in people who develop polyradiculitis ( Guillain -Barré syndrome). It is a progressive paralysis. In the intact brain and in full awareness of the patient lives in a ( almost) completely paralyzed body. If the paralysis finally recorded the breathing, so that those involved must be artificially ventilated and can no longer speak, they lose their last remaining opportunity to make contact with their environment. So when polyradiculitis Guillain-Barré correlated the increased dreams with the severity of deprivation as a result of advanced tetraparesis, artificial ventilation, and multiple cranial nerve involvement. Accordingly, it is the distinctive Guillain -Barré syndrome in up to 95% of cases to a oneiroidalen experience.

The Oneiroid -causing diseases in addition include coma, locked-in syndrome for example, in brainstem ischemia, traumatic, postoperative and postpartum psychosis, severe burns, starvation conditions, encephalitis, Poliomyelitiden, brain injury and long-term rescue breaths.

According to one study 25 of 68 patients (ie 37% ), which were a result of a severe trauma for days unconscious or in a coma, typical Oneiroide. In another study had 24 (96%) of 25 long-term ventilated patients Oneiroide. With greater Lebensbedrohlichkeit of the disease leads to an increased frequency of Oneiroide.

If hard chronically ill people are asked what their most impressive experiences in the intensive care unit, are in 44 % of cases their dreams - so the Oneiroide. About this complex and impressive dreams, some patients have then also written entire books. The helpfulness of the nursing staff dismissal in 4%, the first visit to the family in 4% or the suffering of other patients, however, were only 16 %, referred to 4 % of cases.