Pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for nightmare disorder

Abstract

Interest in the treatment of nightmares has greatly increased over the last several years as research has demonstrated the clinical significance of nightmare disorder. This paper provides an overview of nightmare disorder, its clinical relevance, and the leading treatments that are available. In particular, the paper defines nightmare disorder and then summarize the recent literature examining the clinical relevance of nightmare disorder, including its relation to post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric conditions. The relation between nightmares and suicidality is also discussed. Recent findings on the treatment of nightmare with imagery rehearsal therapy and prazosin are then summarized. Lastly, the paper comments on potential future uses of nightmare treatment including using imagery rehearsal therapy or prazosin as a first-line intervention for post-traumatic stress disorder and using these treatments as an adjunctive therapy to reduce suicide risk in those at risk of suicide with nightmares.

Declaration of interest: This research study was supported by the US Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (PR054093 & PT073961; PI: Germain). The views expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the official policy or position of the US Department of Defense or the US Government. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.