Thursday, September 20, 2012

The Dreams of University Students....

The Storytelling Method of Dream Interpretation (DeCicco, 2007) was found to be valid and reliable when tested with both female (DeCicco, 2007) and male (Dale & DeCicco, 2012) university students. These studies found a gender difference between males and females, and, the continuity hypothesis was upheld. That is, that students dream about relevant waking day events. Students of both genders also found meaning in their dreams with the method more than 80% of the time. Once these studies established the categories of images that students dream about (e.g. school, family, other females, anger, stress, etc.) these categories could be used in future studies for comparison purposes. The dreams of female breast cancer patients for example, could be compared to females of similar age and the dreams of male soldiers returning from war could be compared to males of similar age. In fact, the dreams of male soldiers returning from war were examined and found to be relevant. Furthermore, The Storytelling Method was helpful for them finding meaning in their dreams. How might The Storytelling Method be helpful to soldiers returning from war and how would their images and meanings be different than male students?

74 comments:

  1. The Storytelling Method may be helpful to soldiers returning from war because it would give them a chance to analyze dreams that they would most likely be having upon their return. Some of these soldiers could be suffering from Post Traumatic stress Disorder after some of the things that they have experienced and witnessed. By using the Storytelling Method to interpret their dreams, they could find insight and meaning from their dreams and possible fears experienced in their dreams. It may act as a form of rehabilitation if they are experiencing PTSD.

    Students and soldiers would most likely dream about different things and would therefore have different relations to waking day events. Soldiers may derive more fear and unsettling events from their dreams than students
    depending on the situation.

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    1. I agree with your point about helping soldiers recount events or even to just cope/deal with being back home. Often people overseas aren't used to "home life" and it all gets overwhelming. If the story telling method can help with this then it's at a big advantage to them

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    2. Exactly Jade. Adjusting to a normal "home life" is the issue. It's rarely one big event, it's a combination of events and experiences that add up when stationed overseas. If TSM helps people deal with the situation, it should be employed as a tool in helping soldiers adjust.

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  2. The Storytelling Method might be helpful to soldiers returning from war by allowing them to really examine what they went through for the duration of war. Like the book said TSM is akways a good starting point to working with any dream.

    I agree with Heather, there could be a possibility that the soldiers are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and this would be an excellent way to determine what exactly they are feeling, such as fear, anxiety, stress etc.

    Their images and meanings would be different than the male students perhaps by a soldier saying that he had seen images of people dying, families being separated and fellow soldiers dying etc. As for the male students who my just have images in their dreams of failing an exam, girlfriends leaving them, partying etc.

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    1. I definitely agree that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder could have a huge effect on one's dreams, and that soldier's dreams would be more negative than students' dreams. When you are exposed to the kinds of things that soldiers have to deal with, it would be pretty hard for it to not have an effect on your thoughts.

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    2. I agree with the fact that the storytelling method can help them examine what happened when they were in the war. I liked how it was brought to pepoples attention that both males experience similar things but in different wayy, like how you mentioned the people leaving.

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  3. The Storytelling Method could be very helpful to soldiers because it could allow them to pinpoint exactly what events/things they are having trouble dealing with from war, and could therefore provide a good focus for therapy/counselling. By knowing specifically what is causing mental distress, their therapist would know where to spend more time/effort in order to help them cope, and could therefore provide some relief to the soldier.

    The dreams of soldiers would probably have a lot more negative imagery than the dreams of students. Since soldiers have been exposed to much more horrific situations than (most) students, the images in the dreams of soldiers would most likely reflect this trauma. While students do deal with stress on a daily basis, I would assume that this stress is nothing compared to the horrors faced by soldiers in war. It makes sense to reason that the dreams of students would be far less negative than those of soldiers.

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    1. I agree that soldiers probably have significantly more negative dreams than male students. The soldiers probably have dreams in which the content is powerfully distubing compared to the negative imagery that a dream male student may have. However, I bet they could have similar dream concepts but the way the dream is composed and the content may change depending on the dreamer. For example, a student may have an anxiety dream about losing a valuable item but a soldier may have a dream about losing a friend. Very different content but they have the same plot: losing something precious.

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    2. I agree with your point on students experiencing anxiety and the soldier losing a friend. It's all about context. Obviously the death of another soldier carries more weight than losing your i-pod but the student wouldn't have the loss of a fellow soldier in their wheelhouse. They don't know any different. They'd have to enlist to get the experience.

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  4. As previously stated, I too believe that some soldiers would suffer from PTSD upon return from the war. Therefore, the Storytelling Method would definitely serve as great service.

    The TSM would allow soldiers to analyze their dreams that are connected to their everyday waking lives. With that, the soldier would be able to be guided to different discoveries, understand different types of emotions, and events that may be happening to them everyday. By using the TSM, hopefully the soldier would be able to release some of the stress, anger, and negative emotions that they would be feeling.

    As for their images and meanings being different than a male student, I agree with Liisa. Although one cannot assume what other factors may be going on in another person life. I don't feel that the images and the negativity of a male student would be the same as a solider who just returned from war. Sure a male student may be stressed by the different factors associated with school. This sometimes would cause negative dream imagery. However compared to a solider, their dreams would consist of killings, trauma, fires, guns, and the list could go on.

    Therefore I believe that a soldiers dream imagery would be far more negative and traumatic than those of a male student.

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  5. In my opinion, The Storytelling Method (TSM) is an extremely helpful way of helping soldiers cope with their experiences at war. As mentioned in earlier postings, a majority of soldiers suffer from PTSD, which can be very stressful for them while they try adjusting to their lives after war.

    TSM would help interpret and analyze their dreams, which will help former soldiers to deal with psychological and emotional damage caused by their war. By talking and analyzing their dreams, these individuals would gain greater insights of their subconscious minds, which will help them cope with their war experiences. Perhaps the most important contribution of understanding their own dreams is that their loved ones (family and friends) would also benefit from soldiers’ psychological well-being. As soldiers learn to cope with PTSD, their quality of life would increase, thus enabling them to lead a normal life with their friends and family.

    I think everyone’s dreams are different, unique and meaningful only to the dreamer. Soldiers would experience dreaming different imageries compared to individuals (such as students) who do not have any experiences of being at war. As mentioned above, soldiers would most likely have more dream contents that contain negative imagery compared to male students. This is because soldiers have experienced major traumatic events (deaths, weapon sounds, etc) compared to male students. For instance, a hypothetical soldier’s dreams could be scenes of injured civilians, war environments, guns and bullets etc. Male students on the other hand, are very unlikely to be experience those types of dreams.

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  6. Since the TSM method helps people give meaning to and relate their dreams to their waking life, I absolutely agree that using the TSM method would be helpful to returning soldiers from war. Upon returning from war, soldiers are often emotionally and mentally scarred from the tragic events they have witnessed over seas (some may have witnessed friends dying, some may feel tremendous guilt over killing someone else etc.). I agree with the many of the above posts that many of these soldiers would suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. By using The TSM method to analyze their dreams (probably most of the time nightmares form the horrific things they have seen over seas) discovery may result which could help reveal insight, meaning and emotions that are beneath the surface of awareness. Once conscious of the meaning of these dreams, the soldiers will better be able to cope with, get treatment and recover from the horrendous events they have experienced in war.

    I believe that the dreams of the soldiers would be quite different from the dreams experienced by male students. First of all the content of the dreams would be very different. Although it is possible that young males may be experiencing a lot of negativity and stress at home (we never know what others are going through), it is very likely that majority of male students’ dreams would include the stressful life events revolving around school such failing a test or a course, stress about finances and employment etc. I would assume that the second main difference between the dreams of soldiers and the dreams of students would be that soldiers would dream of the past and students would dream about the present and future. It is most likely that soldiers who have witnessed horrible events would continually dream about war that had happened possibly decades ago. On the other hand students dreams most likely take place in the present, involving the current stress they are dealing with, and the future, as they may be worried about finding jobs in the future or graduating.

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    1. I completely agree with you in terms of the differences between soldiers and students dreams. As with all individuals, both soldiers and students live very different lives. Their dreams will reflect this and as a result be very different. Perhaps the reasoning behind dreams of war being persistent and occurring so often is that the events these soldiers witnessed were so strong and emotional that they overpower other waking day events. Witnessing a death would have a greater effect than getting groceries on a soldier and likely result in dreams revolving around this. I’d be interested in learning if those experiencing traumatic events such as health care workers witnessing death, and victims of car accidents or natural disasters would have similar dream patterns as soldiers. I believe there would be some similarity.

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  7. Soldiers returning from war are returning to an environment far different from the one in which they were just in. This alone would be a difficult adjustment to make. Further, they are faced with possible Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other health issues such as Anxiety disorder resulting from their experiences. While one can physically leave the traumatic war environment, memories, smells, and visions from this will stay with these soldiers and therefore be transferred into their life back home and ultimately their dreams. Using the Storytelling Method may be therapeutic to soldiers who are having to deal with the painful memories of war. For example, a soldier may have a dream about someone they saw injured during the war. This person may keep reappearing in their dreams and may be upsetting to the soldier and a cause of grief and despair. Through the Storytelling Method, the soldier may come to understand that this person symbolizes hope and a better future for the soldier, therefore assisting in the healing process.

    As studies have shown that students dream about their waking day events, it can be presumed that soldiers would differ as their waking day events during war were different than those of the students. Generally, their dreams would be more violent. It is in my opinion that soldiers would experience more nightmares than most male students due to their circumstances and life events. Similarly, I believe that while students will dream about their current life events and the people and events in them, soldier’s dreams may tend to reflect on some current waking day events but more events from their war experience. Perhaps their new life is so focused on their experiences of war and coping with the memories they have, that these become part of their waking and thus lead to more dreams about their war experiences. These soldier’s days may be filled with support groups and counseling that require talking and reliving painful experiences to help with the recovery process. These waking day events then will transfer into dreams about their war experiences.

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  8. The story telling method may be helpful to soldiers returning from war to help talk about what they saw/did while they were away. Although many soldiers when they come home from being away, they do not want to talk much about what they saw, or did and their experiences. By keeping everything in can lead to severe anxiety, depression and sometimes these soldiers feel they should take their own lives for what had happened over seas. The story telling method would be tough for soldiers to use because this means they are 'reliving' what had happened, but by using the story telling method, these soldiers may be able to discover the meaning of their dreams, which would free his mind and eventually allow other, happier dreams to take place. The story telling method will help free the soldier of his stress and possibly guilt, so he will be able to have peaceful sleeps.
    I find it hard to compare dreams of male students to soldiers, I think they would be completely different, but non-the-less both may experience night terrors or be experiencing significant amounts of stress which are causing dreams interfering with their sleep patters. The meaning of soldiers discovering their dreams would be to release the images, guilt and anxiety that came home with them when they left the war. The meaning of male students discovering their dreams through the story telling method would be to release stress and Anxiety that may be building up do to school, work or girlfriends/boyfriends.

    In both circumstances the male student and soldier would have benefit significantly from using the story telling method when these unwanted dreams are occurring.

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  9. As all of my peers have mentioned, I can most certainly see how the Story Telling Method of dream interpretation would aid in soldiers' psychological healing process. Working through each step gradually guides individuals to really evaluate the unconscious symbolism. Regardless if one reaches a clear insight, I think that simply making the effort to consider the tragedies they've experienced and work forward from there.

    Tracey raised a point I can most definitely agree with: soldiers are more likely to dream of truly horrific events. Interpretation would bring to light the feelings of their past in war; however, I think it could extent to not-so obvious feelings towards their futures. The symbolism may be more difficult understand as it's portrayed on the surface. I can only imagine that a sense of identity would be lost upon returning (as life at home has progressed while the soldiers are serving their country). I think this would be applicable to feelings of guilt or regret as well. Working through their imagery is an excellent stepping stone to overcoming any upset.

    As Tracey mentioned, PTSD and night terrors are common in war veterans. These aspects of both waking and dreaming life could completely consume the individual's day-to-day outlook. It's essential to find a coping method that is comfortable, and dream interpretation seems like an efficient route to do so. I agree with the general consensus and as mentioned by Nikki that male students' are more likely to dream of daily stressors such as money, school, and/or family and peers. Feelings such as anxiety or worry certainly may daunt a male students' dreams; however, I believe the symbolism would differ significantly. For example, students are experiencing a great amount of pressure to make decisions that have a great impact on their lives such as future occupations. Soldiers returning from service have to make decisions sculpting where their lives are progressing to. Although these worries revolving around self-identity and self-awareness are rightfully felt by both groups, the symbolism created by the unconscious minds to convey these messages would be geared towards their own waking life and experiences.

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  10. As previously stated from my fellow classmates above, I too believe that some soldiers, if not all of them would suffer from PTSD upon return from the war.

    Soldiers experience horrific tragedies on a daily basis. Therefore, the Storytelling Method would benefit them greatly. The Storytelling Method would allow the soldiers to identify the insight/interpretation into their waking lives, which in turn would allow them to work through their fears and conflicts.

    As mentioned in. ‘The Giant Compass’, the soldiers may be experiencing a mind-body connection, their subconscious are alerting them and making them aware that they need to seek help to prevent PTSP or Night Terrors from continuing. The subconscious/ inner self will continue these dreams until the dreamer’s waking life changes.

    Soldiers returning from war, their images and meanings would be drastically different than male students because male students waking events are very different than soldiers that just returned from war.

    Typically, male students do not witness the effects of war and would not have that negative imagery shadow through their dreams. The typical male student faces anxiety from presentations, exams, etc.

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  11. The Storytelling Method often reveals the hidden meanings behind our dreams that are not immediately apparent to us. Experiencing war changes the very fundamentals of who a person is. A soldier returning from war is likely to have developed anxieties and fears that he did not previously have. Dreams often reflect aspects of our waking life and therefore I believe that these anxieties and fears would manifest in a soldier’s dreams. He would likely have a higher frequency of nightmares compared to a male student who has not had the same violent and painful experiences. TSM could help soldiers confront these fears and anxieties. Many soldiers try to suppress the negative memories that they have of war and I believe that by doing so, the unconscious mind uses dreams as an outlet for this pain. Instead of trying to ignore these nightmares, soldiers could use TSM to discover the true meaning of their violent dream imagery. Ignoring the problem is the worst thing that soldiers could do because this could potentially lead to or worsen symptoms of PTSD.

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    1. I like how you mentied the anxieties manefesting in the soilders dreams. I always knew that PTSD was possible but the fears that people face from being in the war coming into dreams is interesting.

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  12. The story telling method would be helpful to soldiers coming back from war because it would help them gain insight to how they feel. I am sure a lot of men that come back from war have serious images and situations that they will not forget about. They may at first repress them and the STM of dream interpretation may help them realize how they actually feel which in tern will help them cope. Whether or not they are consciously or unconsciously thinking about what they have been through, what comes up in their dreams is an important way to understand more clearly how they feel about it all. Their dreams would be different from male students because they have not been through the same things in life therefore the images that their brains would create in sleep would not be the same. In the same way that the difference between individuals’ dreams would be different, the same goes for males and soldiers except I think there would be more of a difference because of the intensity of the soldier’s lives. This method would be beneficial for soldiers returning from war if they were suffering from PTSD because I believe it would help them cope. By relating their dreams to how they really feel about what they have been through they can come to terms with the facts of their lives and move on in a way.

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  13. It seems very important to note that the problems experienced by veterans might be very difficult to grasp, let alone face head-on. I think that the almost sneaky methods employed by TSM would allow soldiers to express themselves in a way that minimizes the difficulty of trying to put their suffering into words.

    I agree with the comments above stating that soldiers' dreams would probably contain more powerful or significant imagery than the dreams of male students. This makes good dream therapy all the more important!

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    1. I agree that their experiences would probably be difficult to understand and be difficult for many to discuss. The TSM method could be a more subtle but understanding way of reaching out to themselves and others for guidance through their pain. Also, it may be easier for others to understand due to it being systematic and clear compared to trying to relay an issues to which no one else (but the veteran) has experienced.

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    2. Ben, I think that you make an excellent point about TSM being sneaky and not directly addressing the issues square on. More so the insight and meaningful conclusions are apparent after interpreting the dream and telling a story with key components. This most likely would be the least traumatic way to realize the emotions that the soldiers were feeling.

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  14. Well, as we stated earlier in posts previous to this one, dream images are taken from waking day events and situations. A white male would dream of himself as a white male. Therefore, it would be safe to assume that solders coming home from combat or still on combat would have dream images related to combat. This images could very well be haunting the dreams of these individuals. However, by using dream interpretation they could find specific meaning in their dreams and may be able to cope with the images that they have seen both waking and dreaming. Since dream interpretation is used as therapy, it can be used to help treat PTSD, or other psychological damages obtained by viewing the horrifying images of war.

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  15. The Storytelling Method would be very helpful to soldiers in analyzing their dreams.I think it would help soldiers to deal with their fear and find certain steps in trying to help them cope. Soldiers go through many difficult experiences in which they express through their dreams. The Storytelling Method would help them express these feelings and find ways to deal with their pain and suffering.

    I think male students and soldiers would have very different meanings and images in their dreams. Male students have not gone through the powerful experiences that soldiers have. I think male students would have more meaningful dreams about stress and school. I think soldiers would have more meaningful dreams and images about life and death experiences. Male students most likely relate to similar everyday school experiences of anxiety and stress. Soldiers may relate to similar everyday experieces. However, there may be a more traumatic event that occured more than others. Male students can deal with stress of school and in the end they receive a positive effect for the future in getting a career. Some events that occur in a soldier's life can impact them for the rest of their lives.

    However, i think it is a positive impact for both male students and soldiers to use the Storytelling Method of Dream Interpretation.

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  16. I think that the storytelling method would be helpful to soilders returning from the war because it will allow them to talk about what exactly happened.

    The veterans who tend to keep to themselves and don't express their feelings about what happened are seen as a bigger target of post traumatic stress disorder. Soilders who do express what they saw however are more aware of the benefits that it gave and they can make the good outweigh the bad. An example of this can be through storytelling. By telling stories about how it was they can express their emotion on how they felt at certain times and can get feedback from others who are trying to help them with their coping. Hopefully this would allow them to pass the PTSD stage and move on and be happy with their lives.

    A male who has been in the war would have different meaning and images of their storytelling from dreams. This is because of the different things in life that they are experiencing. A male student is witnessing drinking, stress from school work, etc. However a male in the war is witnessing brutal attacks and injuries being made, and also has the stress of making a mistake be the cost of their life or someone elses. These different experiences would lead the males to having very different types of dreams which would lead to different storytelling aspects.

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  17. Glenda Zomer-VandermeulenSeptember 22, 2012 at 11:26 AM

    Categories of images were found to be relevant to waking day events in both students and breast cancer patients. Relevance was also found in the dreams of male soldiers returning from war. The Storytelling Method of Dream Interpretation assists one in making connections between their dreams and their waking life circumstances. These connections lead to discovery which helps one realize what action needs to be taken once a connection between dreams and waking day events is made. Coping mechanisms, solutions to problems, and the real underlying issues are revealed. The Storytelling Method of Dream Interpretation would be helpful to soldiers returning from war because it can lead to constructive ways of dealing with life’s circumstances. It may lead a soldier to initiate support themselves, in an effort to ease their transition back into civilian life. Alternatively, the knowledge and insights gained from a collection of dreams of soldiers might create awareness in the healthcare system and for the families of soldiers regarding how to best support a soldier returning from a war zone. These images and meanings would be very different than those of male students because their life experiences are so different. Waking life circumstances would be stressful for both cohorts but the source and degree of stress would be very different.
    It would be interesting to compare the images and meanings of dreams of female soldiers to those of their male counterparts and to females of similar ages.

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  18. When it comes to soldier, I bet the story telling method could help them move on from the events they had to go through during the war. It may help them find out which events seem to be bothering them most and what specific aspects of the event could be discussed. Finding out such events could help both them and the therapist discover what type of treatment would be best for them in moving on from the pain of war. It also may provide insight that they too are still human and what they did in the war was truly beyond their control. It may even encourage them to help others that went through the same ordeal. There are probably a great deal of ways that the story telling method may help soldiers.
    As for soldiers and male university students, I could imagine that they would have very different dreams. For one, soldiers would have much more experience in the world and would be beyond their comfort zones resulting in different dream information. Also, I imagine that soldiers would have more disturbing content or depressing dreams than a male university student. A university student may have dreams from anxiety, but would probably not be on the same level as soldiers. In addition, soldiers have probably been to places that a male university student has not even though of traveling to, which may result in more differences in their dreams. If they did have similar dreams, it would might have the same concept but radically different content.

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  19. I agree with many of the previous posts which suggest that using TSM (The Storytelling Method of Dream Interpretation) would be a good first step to helping soldiers recover from the negative impacts of participating in war. As previously suggested by other students who have posted their comments, I would imagine that many soldiers would be affected with PTSD ( Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) due to the variety of negative situations they would have experienced during their time at war. With this I also agree that soldiers would have increasingly more negative dream imagery in comparison to male university students of the same age primarily because of the fact that soldiers would be exposed to more stressful and emotionally scarring situations (e.g. witnessing the death of a close friend on the battlefield) in comparison to the common stresses of a normal university student (e.g. anxiety about a particular school related task) which would be significantly less likely to severely impact one’s life. Since TSM has been shown to be an effective method of dream interpretation due to the fact that it can lead to discovery more than 80% of the time it is used, soldiers could use this method of dream interpretation as not only a method to analyzing their dream imagery but also as a therapy. TSM could be considered a therapy for these soldiers suffering with PTSD since as already suggested in previous posts, interpretations of their dream imagery can show them exactly what issues/stress they have and possibly how to go about resolving them.

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  20. I think it would be safe to assume that many soldiers coming home from war would suffer post traumatic stress disorder to some degree, and this could cause some serious problems with dreams. Because the storytelling method of dream interpretation has been proven to be so effective, I think it could help returning soliders with unwanted images in their dreams. Like Katie said, soliders using the TSM model may be able to pinpoint what events or images are bothering them the most, and then work on moving past those events.
    I don't think it is really fair to compare the dreams of a returning solider to those of a university student. To me it's apples and oranges. Both parties are worrying about two different things at completely different levels. I'm sure we would all agree that as students, we have felt at one point or another extreme amounts of stress. We are experiencing this stress because of deadlines and grades but the point is, we have felt extremely stressed. A solider on the other had experiences a different kind of stress. This stress is about his/her life, or a friends life or images that they see on a regular basis. In my opinion, these are two totally different types of stress and comparing them doesn't seem fair.
    Going further with the TSM and PTSD, i'm sure the TSM is effective for all people experiencing PTSD for instance, someone who has been in a severe car accident.

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  21. I think the level of how helpful The Storytelling Method is for soldiers returning home from war depends on the personality of the person involved. As mentioned above, many soldiers may experience PTSD, and it may be more difficult for these individuals to pay attention to their dreams. It may be more of an emotional challenge to face the issues head-on. Some soldiers may experience denial or guilt. For an emotion such as denial, it may be harder to find discovery in a dream if the person is trying to deny it happened. That is, the dream itself won’t lie, but the interpretation of the person during waking life may misread the dream or choose to overlook certain aspects of the dream. Similarly, a person experiencing guilt may find it difficult to come to terms with the issues presented in the dream. However, I do believe, with persistence, any person can benefit from The Storytelling Method, soldier or not. It may come easier to some than others. Some may find it much more challenging. And others may need to seek other methods beyond The Storytelling Method to find meaning in their dreams.

    I think no matter how catastrophic the life experience was, a person’s dreams will try to sort out the issues in the person’s subconscious. The Storytelling Method, almost like a journal, would help the soldiers come to terms with their inner most emotions—whether it be guilt, fear, anxiety, sorrow, etc—and offer a way for them to move on. In a sense, I think the Storytelling Method can be used as a method of healing. One must discover and tend to the emotional wound so that it will stop bleeding and be healed. Only then can they move on.

    The dreams of male soldiers returning home may differ significantly from male students. I think there would be obvious gender-specific similarities within the dreams themselves but the images and meanings would most likely differ. A soldier who is exposed to death, murder, shooting, smoke, fire, explosions, etc, may experience more vivid or catastrophic dreams than a university student who was never exposed to such a setting. This is not to say that a university student will not dream of such elements, or have vivid dreams, because some people can dream of the apocalypse without having had a violent upbringing. The difference would be the emotions present in the dreams. A soldier, for instance, may have come face-to-face with death, may have lost a friend in a gruesome manner, may have been exposed to realities that were unjust or beyond that which the average student might have come across. Their dreams then would have a greater emotional impact on them because they have experienced such strife in waking life. As a result the soldiers’ dreams may play out much more complicated emotions and the dream images may be distorted and confusing, especially if the soldier is experiencing denial, fear, or tries to forget the events in waking life. They would likely dream of what they felt and what they saw—death and destruction. The average university student will dream of their simple waking life, difficulties in their relationships, past issues that they didn’t let go of, etc. They would seldom dream of war scenes that they did not emotionally experience. This does not mean that a soldier’s dream will be more complicated than a university student’s dream or vice versa. Again, I think it depends on the person, their personality, how they deal with their emotions in waking life, and how self-aware they are.

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    1. I agree with Katelyn that although the imagery could be similar within the dreams of soldiers and students, the emotions would differ greatly. Dreaming about war and never actually experiencing it, one is likely to have different emotions within the dream compared to a soldier who has been living war in their waking lives.

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  22. TSM would be a valuable tool for soldiers returning home from war. There are several different influences that war has on soldiers, essentially none of them are positive- fears, guilt, shame, etc.- and they most likely manifest in their dreams. TSM could help soldiers pinpoint the issues appearing in their dreams, and the places that they stem from. As stated above, PTSD is a mental issue many soldiers have to deal with and the storytelling method could help soldiers to make sense of where their PTSD is focused, as their dreams most likely reflect this in an unclear way.
    A male student will most likely have rather different dreams than that of a soldier because they have probably not had similar grizzly first hand experience with fighting, weaponry and death that soldiers are constantly exposed to. So while a student may dream of the stress of assignments, exams, work, and other day to day issues, a soldier may dream of fighting, killing, bring killed or watching comrades die. And these things are where TSM could be beneficial in giving insights into these kinds of dreams, helping the soldiers to work through them, and to help them to move past it all.

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  23. I agree with what a lot of you are saying, especially about the PTSD, i think that the TSM could most definitely help soldiers who are coming back from war get through such a tough time period. Because our dreams reflect our waking life and the waking life of a soldier can be so violent and terrifying i would think that there would be even more hidden in their dreams because the human body automatically wants to protect itself from that kind of environment, so dream therapy would be a great place to start looking at how the soldiers can deal with all that they have seen.
    Male students at this age would probably have very different dreams, maybe not in the way in what they actually see but more so in what the images make them feel. I would have to agree with Jason on this one, it really is like comparing apples and oranges. The two ways of life between a student and a soldier or just way to different, the emotions carried out in the dreams would differ greatly, though that is not to say that the STM wouldn't work equally as great for either party.

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  24. The TSM method of analyzing dreams would definitely help soldiers work through their PTSD symptoms and other consequences of war that may have been brought back with them like so has been said in previous postings. I also believe that without the help of a dream analyst these dreams could sometime be misconstrued and some soldiers may think that they have changed and are wrong in some way. For example, if a soldier continuously dreams that he is killing others this could potentially lead to further frustration and guilt as he may think this is showing who he has become. With the help of a trained dream analyst I believe these dreams could be helpful and that they should be analyzed properly to ensure successful interpretation and understanding. This will lead to better, lasting steps to recovery from such ailments as PTSD.
    I agree with Kasandra and Jason that the two groups are completely different but not so much that they cannot use the TSM method to understand what their dreams mean. Although they may have different imagery within the dream, as those soldiers may be suffering PTSD which influences the images they see in their dreams, the two groups of males could still use the TSM method but would just yield different stories and interpretations about their dreams.

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    1. I agree with you as well, if they don't seek help they may continue a downward spiral into frustration, anger, and even sadness. Seeing an interpreter could help them find a suitable form of therapy and find out what their dreams could mean. Finding such meanings could help discover why the same PTSD dreams keep happeneing and how to stop them.
      I think anyone (except small children and those with disabilities who may impair them from using this method) can use the TSM method and have a benefit from it but the dreams would be different. Even more so depending on the circumstances of their lifestyles. A student may have anxiety-related dreams but not with the same magnitude a soldier may have in their dreams.

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  25. The storytelling Method would be helpful to soldiers returning from war because they would be able to make sense of the dreams that they have and what certain objects/items may symbolize. Also they may often feel like they have to relive being at war this can become a hurtful process at the same time. Things that may have been repressed during war may tend to surface in their dreams and possibly lead to disorders, one of which was mentioned by several-PTSD. However, by understanding the images and what they symbolism in these dreams, the soldiers will be able to relate them to their personal lives.

    I also agree with Jocelyn Hay when she speaks about the dreams being misconstructed by these soldiers if they don't get help understanding their dreams. I do feel that they may try to blame themselves for everything that is happening in their personal lives based on misinterpretations of their dreams.

    In terms of the soldier’s dreams in comparison to those of male students, I feel that there will be noticeable discrepancies between the two subjects. My reasoning for this opinion is because environmental cues would differ between the two parties which may have an effect on the types of dreams that each individual experiences. For instance, the two groups may dream of a dove flying in the air. To a soldier the dove may symbolize death because that is all the soldier has been surrounded by - therefore looking at everything in a “negative light”. While a student may dream of a dove but it may symbolize new life- both dreaming about similar objects but just with different meanings. Students may tend to have dreams that are more centralized around their environment such as how they will pay for school (possibly dreaming about winning the lottery), seeing an attractive girl, anxiety of being away from home during school, or what they want to be when they graduate. These things may not necessarily be on a mind of a soldier.

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    1. I definitely agree with the part about environmental cue differences between soldiers and students. I feel that symbolism in the dream would be radically different. It would be extremely hard to understand soldiers' dream symbolism. I think war itself is something so extreme and difficult to grasp, especially fighting in war. That the brain would create some interesting things while dreaming, perhaps in a way to cope.

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  26. The Storytelling Method has proven to be very effective and could aid returning soldiers who may be suffering from nightmares or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); both possible consequences for anyone who has been engaged in war. A soldier who has recently returned from witnessing such tragic events could still be re-living these traumas in their dreams. The Storytelling Method is a simple, non-invasive way to help soldiers link their dreams to their waking lives. It is possible that a soldier could be having the reoccurring dream of a war-related event, but not know that the true meaning of the dream is completely unrelated to the soldier’s war experience. The Storytelling Method can help make these distinctions.

    I would expect the dreams of male soldiers to be quite different than those of male students. Since we already know that our waking lives influence our dreams, given the very different circumstances and environments in which students and soldiers live each day, it is expected that the dream imagery be quite different as well. However, both the lives of students and soldiers involve a great deal of stress, which can be manifested in their dreams. So although I would expect the imagery of the dreams to be different, I wouldn’t be surprised to find similar themes within the interpretations of the dreams.

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  27. The Storytelling Method would be helpful to soldiers who are returning from war in dealing with the experiences that they went through while at war. It is known that many soldiers who return from war experience depression, anxiety and PTSD because of the experiences that they went through while fighting in the war. The experiences that they have take a toll on them and may even replay over and over in their dreams. The Storytelling Method would have the soldiers to take the dreams that they are having and apply some meaning to them, with the help of a professional. They may even be able to overcome some of the negative emotions that they have gained from being in the war. The Storytelling method could help them to take the meaning they gain from their dreams and apply it to their lives to better them.

    It would be expected that male students would have different meanings and images in their dreams than male soldiers. Not to say that male students have life easy but they do not experience the same things as a male soldier does. The level of drama and stress that a male student experience is a different level than that of a male soldier. More male soldiers have horrific experiences that would be expected of male students and this is another factor for why their dream images and meanings would be different.

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    1. I agree with your point about dreams replaying over and over again. Since we now know that dreams repeating means the cause of the dream in the waking life has not been dealt with, and since one of the main symptoms of PTSD (from my understanding) is that they often have vivid flashback dreams as well as horrendous nightmares. I agree that the storytelling method would be useful for dealing with the causes of these dreams (ie. Addressing the PTSD).

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  28. First of all, I agree with those who have said that soldiers returning from war would have different imagery and dream meanings than regular male university students. I don’t think the imagery would necessarily have to be war themed (though vivid, realistic dreams can be present in PTSD patients) to be different, and I think it’s more the emotions that would be affected in the dream. A soldier still trying to process negative emotions surrounding their war experience would have more negative emotions in their dreams, and likely more negative imagery.

    TSM might help these returning soldiers address the underlying emotions and anxieties that are plaguing them. Dreams are not always clear messages, so TSM could help these soldiers better understand what their dreams are really about. Analyzing the emotional content of their dreams with a therapist/psychologist would also help facilitate therapy for PTSD-suffering soldiers. I believe TSM could be a very valuable tool for helping returning soldiers who are having trouble adjusting to normal life, or who would like to make sense of troubling dreams.

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  29. I think the Story Telling Method is a great tool for soldiers with PTSD or even soldiers in general. They may not be comfortable going into therapy type sessions and confronting their feelings head on. With this method it allows flexibility with the soldier as well as structure that is left up to the soldier. This method would be helpful also maybe for soldiers being able to communicate issues with loved ones as well after discovery or even during. I find that most people who come back from overseas aren't really open to sharing everything they went through of even knowing how to explain emotions to loved ones.

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  30. Soldiers just retuning from war are, as others have already said, under a lot of stress and might be suffering from PTSD to some degree or another. This would obviously affect the imagery in their dreams. But that they would also be experiencing a lot of happiness and relief as well, as when they return home they are no longer under the pressures and stressings that war brings to those who experience it, and because they are back from being overseas, back with their loved ones, and back to their normal, everyday lives instead of being out on the lines risking their lives and possibly getting bombed and shot at… Soldiers returning from war are experiencing a lot of emotion and change. Also, since being overseas fighting a war is likely a very tramatic and stressful experience for many soldiers, they probably have a lot of repressed thoughts and feelings, etc., that they are not even aware that they are having. The Storytelling Method might be helpful to returning soldiers as it enables soldiers to make discovery through their dreams and to develop insight on their waking day lives and make sense of all of the repressed thoughts and etc. that lie in their unconscious. Finding discovery in their dreams might help them get their lives back on track, get over their experiences in the war, and to deal with whatever they’re going through upon returning home…

    Also, since their dreams and dream imagery fall into a category and can thus be compared to the dreams and dream imagery of persons in another category, e.g. male students, interpreting and making discovery of their dreams via the Storytelling Method may be beneficial to soldiers as they can use their categorized dream imagery to determine things like where and how their dreams are different from the dreams of more ‘normal’ people such as male students. Once they can realize and discover where and how there dreams are different and how they are related to their waking day lives, they can work with them to help determine where they might want to go and what they might want to do in order to better get their lives back to ‘normal’…

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    1. Also...

      Waking day experiences and etc. probably have a larger influence on the dreams of male students than repressed and unconscious memories, feelings, etc. This would be reflected in their dreams through images of school, family, other females, anger, stress, etc., as well as other important aspects of their individual lives. In contrast, soldiers are likely to have more repressed and unconscious memories, feelings, etc., in their waking day lives than most male students do. This would contribute more to the dream imagery of soldiers than their waking day experiences (as compared to male students whose dreams would be more largely influenced by their waking day events). While their waking day lives would have still have some influence on their dreams, it would be to a far lesser extent than that of male students. As opposed to or as well as dreaming about things like school, family, other females, anger, stress, etc., soldiers might also dream about the way they felt when they were being bombed or shot at or what they were going through when they were forced to kill a little seven-year old boy who was shooting at them while they were on duty. Such experiences would be extremely difficult and stressful for any soldier with a moral conscience to deal with, and so they would probably be repressed or rationalized or displaced, etc., by the soldier in order for him to remain sane and not go crazy. Such images would likely be reflected in the soldier’s dreams, as he no longer has control over his unconscious when he sleeps. The majority of male students have never been shot at, have never had to tear families apart, and have never killed anyone. While male students, as with anyone including soldiers, might have repressed, etc. memories, thoughts, and experiences (such as a childhood trauma or something), they would likely have less of them than soldiers do. Thus, negative aspects of their unconscious would not influence their dreams in the same way nor to as great an extent as the negative aspects of the soldiers’ unconscious do…

      Finally, the meanings of the dream images of male students and soldiers would be different as well. Everyone’s dreams are different and the images contained in them are interpreted differently and mean different things to each individual dreamer. A male student might dream of a pretty faceless girl in a white dress leading him down a path in the jungle to an old wooden cabin built on a plateau beside a waterfall at the edge of a cliff that overlooks a calm, peaceful lake down below. He might interpret this as his desire to fall in love or to get away from all the drama of his everyday life and settle down somewhere quiet and relaxing or something. The soldier, on the other hand, might interpret the dream as the girl representing Mother Mary or some Saint or biblical figure giving him guidance or advice on what he needs to do to find peace with himself after experiencing the traumas of war…

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  31. I think that the storytelling method would be extremely helpful for soldiers returning from war. Like others have said, negative feelings are sometimes generated once returning back to their homes, sometimes escalating into PTSD. However, I think it is also important to note, like Jesse did, that other emotions can be felt when someone is coming home; feelings of joy and happiness when reunited with their friends and family, feelings of fear and anger for what they experienced, or even culture shock when beginning their life again after returning from war. Coming back from a life that is so unknown to many people would be hard. Being able to interpret your own dream, would give the soldier a chance to self-reflect on their experiences at war and their current emotions. I think that TSM in dream interpretation would be quite beneficial for soldiers to use. With the experiences that a soldier goes through, and not many people being able to understand it, dream interpretation would provide insight into their waking life. Whether it be uncovering repressed feelings, or working through major life decisions, TSM would help soldiers work through and understand any issues or feelings that they are dealing with post-war.
    Dreams are representations of our life; personality, individuals we interact with and current life situations. I think that the dreams of soldiers would vary greatly from dreams of male students. Male students would not have exposure to war and the major emotions that accompany that experience. The male student’s imagery and the meanings that they interpret from their dreams would be very different from soldiers. Dream interpretation, especially TSM is based on our own personal experiences, very individualistic.

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  32. The Storytelling Method is valuable both for the soldier and the student, and can be used to work through problems, albeit for different reasons. Male soldiers and students are exposed to different stimuli, thus their meanings, imagery and interpretation will vary. As mentioned by others, soldiers are susceptible to Post Traumatic Stress disorder if they were persistently engaged in combat. The situations they endured will be represented in their dreams, most likely in the form of brutal imagery. Soldiers can use the Storytelling Method to work through nightmares, depression, and anxiety about war when they come home. Discovery will allow soldiers to clarify problems that have not been dealt with, offer a revelation of problems they were not aware about, and also and serve as a gateway towards fixing stressful experiences and imagery. This will boost their psychological health and their coping mechanisms. Soldiers may be prone to nightmares, and not dealing with them could have psychological consequences on their own, especially those who develop PTSD that is not under control. TSM might aid soldiers through their own realization and possible solutions of problems (such as flashbacks and depression) that other forms of therapy (medications or talk therapy) could not have.

    Male students will most likely have their own imagery revolving around school and family and peer connections, in general. They can use TSM as therapy to work through a stressful school schedule and assignments, as well as social issues. Though students’ imagery may not be the same as a soldier’s, both can use it to conquer stress and negative emotions in their everyday lives.

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  33. I believe that the storytelling method of dream interpretation would be helpful to soldiers returning from war because, it would allow them to analyze their dreams and their underlying feelings towards their everyday lives. If they were able to successfully experience discovery it would be able to help them deal with their underlying thoughts and feelings about being a soldier and what they may have seen or experienced, particularly traumatizing events.
    The images and meanings in a soldiers dreams who has just returned from war would most likely be different from a male who were instead attending university. Although there might be some similarities in the images the meaning to each image would be very different because both males have experienced different circumstances and have different causes of stress, enjoyment, worries, fears etc.

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    1. I agree with what you have said, the story telling method would be very useful to help bring forward the underlying feelings and problems soldiers have. Often when soldiers come home from war they push all of their feelings and problems out of their conscious minds as they do not know how nor do they want to deal with them. Their dreams will uncover these feelings and problems that the soldier has abandoned and the story telling method can be a great way for the soldier to learn how to deal with these feelings and hopefully come to terms with what they have seen and done and therefor will improve their sense of balance in waking life.
      Male students starting university will also have many new stresses and responsibilities. Like the soldiers the story telling method will help the student uncover some of the feelings that they do not want to deal with in their waking life but have been brought to the surface in their dreaming mind. Though the images and problems the soldiers and students will have to deal with will greatly differ, the story telling method works the same way for both groups as it is pulling thoughts and feelings from the dream so that the person is able to take them into account in waking life and hopefully deal with them.

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  34. I agree with Emma. The dreams of a soldier returning home from war would probably very different from the dreams that most people have. They have most likely experienced some very traumatic events, and those events would appear in their dreams.
    I think that TSM would be very useful for soldiers because it can help them uncover the meaning of their dreams upon returning home. This could help them to adjust to their daily lives once again, and also to deal with the memories from the war. Many soldiers could be suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. By using TSM, they can target the specific event are causing the PTSD, and hopefully deal with the negative emotions such as fear and stress that can be associated with PTSD.

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  35. Given the chaos and high stress of war, it would seem likely that soldiers returning home from a war zone would experience very fragmented, highly emotionally charged dreams as their minds process the traumatic events they have endured. The storytelling method could help them to put a narrative to the imagery and help them to uncover some of the underlying emotions and see to the root of what it is that their minds are processing. To be able to cognitively assess and evaluate the dream through this method should be helpful in allowing them to adjust back to normal life and to put into context all of the things they have experienced. It may also shed insight onto specific incidents related to PTSD, which is an all-too-common psychological artifact following exposure to such high-stress conditions as are found in a war zone. These insights could help soldiers to process their experiences into regular episodic memories, discharging the tightly bound emotions that may lead to PTSD.

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  36. Daiana Locatelli 0405414September 26, 2012 at 9:18 AM

    The story telling method would be an effective way for men who have dreams after returning home from war. The one main difference in the dreams of soldiers versus male students would be the intensity of the soldiers dreams. Once something as dangerous as being part of a war has happened to an individual they can be left with some traumatizing imagery in their minds. It is not uncommon for soldiers to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which causes them to have reoccurring imagery of events that have happened to them in the war, even though these images are not actually occurring in their current lives. Male students would have imagery in their dreams that match their current waking life experiences, where as soldiers have imagery of life experiences from their past and it reflects in their dreams.

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  37. TSM would be helpful for soldiers as it would allow for them to indirectly cope with the traumas they have faced. I use the word indirectly as it is not as head on as the Meditation method. The meditation method could be a little too extreme for a soldier trying to tap into their dreams. This is a way for a veteran to go at their own pace and connect with themselves.
    In relation to male students, their dreams are likely to be much different. If people dream in relation to their waking lives it is unlikely that a regular high school student would have dreams related to war as that of a soldier. As stated in the lecture video, we are social beings. It is likely a male student would dream about his social life and the people he attends school with where as a soldier would most likely dream of the other soldiers he was in battle with and the people that were around him at that time. Their differences would be based on the differences in their surroundings in their personal waking lives.

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  38. As a student I can relate to having dreams filled with anxiety over assignments and exams, as my courses are a significant event in my waking life. The majority of my dreams that have evoked a strong emotional response typically involve relationships, but ultimately are not about anything too serious. Putting my dreams into perspective with the dreams of others, I can realize the importance of dream interpretations for certain groups of people, such as soldiers or clinical patients.

    For soldiers the risk of experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is high, as mentioned by many students before me. The chaotic, stressful, and violent tours they engage in can likely create a heavy strain on their mental health, and I would image have a strong effect on their dream imagery. While their dreams could be confusing and overwhelming, there is probably a strong emotional element to them based on a range of emotions (fear, guilt, anger, grief, ect.).

    The Story Telling Method could be useful to soldiers as it can be easily used as a self-guided technique, if they are not comfortable sharing their dreams or some of the war experiences that may be behind them. TSM has also been found to be highly effective; so many soldiers could gain insight and hopefully some relief quickly. For soldiers who do choose to use therapist-guided techniques, TSM can also aid the therapist in understanding what aspects or emotions are most important to the dreamer, and determining if that person needs further help ( for example medication for depression or anxiety). After participating in dream therapy, hopefully soldiers will be able to apply their discovery/insight to their waking day lives, helping them positively readjust to home life.

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  39. The Storytelling Method can be very helpful for soldiers that are returning from war as many of these people have seen very troubling times and events that can be very troubling. Many soldiers after returning home from the war or war torn areas have a very difficult time adapting back to their normal lives. The Storytelling Method has been found to show discover in eighty percent of dreams. This can be very beneficial for soldiers who might be having trouble with their waking lives and not be sure what is exactly bothering them. The TSM method would allow the soldiers to analyze their dreams by themselves and to find the meaning behind the dream that could explain any troubles that they are having.
    The soldier’s dreams could differ from other males of the same age as many dreams are about waking day events. Since dreams are about waking day events the soldiers are likely to have dreams about war where most males would not have war in their waking day activities.

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  40. The Storytelling Method could be a great place to start with regards to dream therapy. As stated in previous lectures, psychologists can use dream therapy to see where the patient or subject stands with the particular difficulty that they have. For soldiers, they can often experience PTSD, like many have already stated. TSM can help psychologists and soldiers understand how the soldier is dealing with the dream and the level of PTSD they have. Within their dreams, I would think that they would experience very violent dreams that replicate their time at war. By using TSM, it can allow soldiers to understand their dreams and to use it to recover from PTSD or terrifying moments while at war.

    In regards to a comparison to male students, we have discussed that dreams reflect people in their waking life. As a student myself, I experience similar things like anxiety and fear, as a soldier would. However, my anxiety is towards school, budgets, etc. I believe that dreams of male students would be nowhere near as intense as they would be as soldiers. Also, I feel that their dreams would replicate completely different scenarios than a soldiers would. Not to say that students wouldn't experience scary or anxious dreams, I just think that they would be very different to a soldier battling war.

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  41. The Story Telling Method can useful soldiers because it can help them realize issues and fears they have come home from war with. The environment of battle and life of a soldier is so far from the normal day to day of citizens. The men and women who sacrifice their time and lives to protect their countries are subjected to some of the most extreme atrocities and unforgettable hardships the world has to offer. Post traumatic stress is a major hurdle that many soldiers must overcome and dream interpretation, especially the story telling method, can be a great tool to help understand their waking life.
    Soldiers may not even realize that they are dealing with issues and struggling in their waking day life. Working through the images and scenarios that are presented in their dream state can bring them to realizations that can help them work through issues in their waking day life.
    Male students would have very different results with the story telling method because their waking day life is so different than that of a soldier. A male student may have stress in his life due to school, assignments, and the busy student life but this is a very different story than that of the soldier. Both types of people deal with stress but every persons stress and issues are based on their environment and the things they have experienced in their lives. Gender is an aspect of who we are and how we experience the world but so is our environment and the waking day experiences we have. the STM can be a great way to look in on ourselves and see where we can improve, what we need to deal with and where we want to be in the future as people.

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  42. The Storytelling Method can help soldiers returning from war in way that normal therapy could not. It could help soldiers understand what aspects of war truly play an important part in the distress they might experience after coming home. The SM can help soldiers to interpret their dreams allowing them to deal with issues they experienced during war as well as the answers they need to understand how they truly feel during waking-day life. The SM is a great tool that could help anyone experience posttraumatic stress to cope and understand their stressors so that they can do move on from the traumatic event they had experienced. Soldier’s dreams would be different in comparison to young males not at war by what images and feelings they may be experiencing. Soldiers for example may experience imagery that would explain distress, fear, or loss, maybe even the stress of missing a loved one. Young students on the other hand would also experience some stress in their dreams but at a different level they would have imagery that may include loneliness, academic stress or missing loved ones, or excitement to see loved ones soon. Soldiers would experience a much higher level of distress imagery in their dreams then male students.

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  43. I believe that The Storytelling Method would be helpful for soldiers who are returning home from war because it could provide them with insight that they be not be consciously aware of in waking day life. For example, I know soldiers who have come back from war (my brother was in Afghanistan for 10 months) and these soldiers believe they are fine. They believe that what they experienced during their time in the war has no impact on their life where they permanently live. However, many of these soldiers (my brother included) have dreams that relate to the war after coming back. My brother said that he started having a lot of anxious dreams about his wife and child being injured or taken away from him. The Storytelling Method would allow my brother and the other soldiers the opportunity to understand what their dreams are trying to tell them and perhaps bring some anxiety from waking day life to light. Most people who work for the forces have this ‘tough-guy’ personality in which they think they need to act macho all the time to prove they are manly. This includes hiding any feelings they may have about their experiences, so their anxious or depressive feelings may come out in their dreams and will probably recur until they deal with their feelings in waking day life.

    I think the images that the soldiers would experience would be a lot more violent than regular male students. Soldiers would have more dreams about death, guns, and battles or fights than regular male students. We dream about our experiences and that includes our environment. Male students are preoccupied with chasing after girls, hanging out with friends, and partying. Their dreams would be related to these kinds of behaviours – normal adolescent behaviours. They wouldn’t have the anxiety that may accompany soldiers who have been at war for 8+ months who’ve seen friends die, had to kill people, and fight to stay alive.

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    1. I think you made a really great point that many of the soldiers don’t realize they are bothered by something. My boyfriend’s uncle went to Afghanistan and I remember him talking about some of the horrible things he’s seen but he never talked about whether or not this bothered him or if he felt any anxiety of anything because of it. I think TSM would help him work out any issues he has and prevent them from carrying into his everyday activities. It’s easier to talk about the things they’ve seen than it is to talk about how it made them feel and I think the TSM would be like a way for them to understand their feelings.

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  44. I agree with Liisa Mannila (and many others who mentioned the same thing) that it would help create some focus to help the soldiers deal the things they’ve seen. They may not even know that something had bothered them or stayed with the subconsciously, which is why the TSM method would be very helpful. I think it would give many a starting place for coping with things they’ve seen. Once they know something is bothering them they can focus on fixing it, whether it’s by talking about it with family or a professional.


    I think that the dreams between soldiers and students would be very different.I also believe that for many of the soldiers may return home with PTSD this would be especially true. I don’t know how exactly this would change the persons dream but I imagine it would change the type of dreams and that the soldier would have many more nightmares. As mentioned previously, the dreams may be incredibly violent for anyone who had gone to war even if they do not have PTSD and the soldier may relive the things he’s seen in his dream while his brain tries to process this. This would differ greatly from a student’s dream that may focus on his school work or his career choices or a personal problem. I think their dreams would not be anywhere near as violent as the soldiers.

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  45. I feel the Story Telling Method might be helpful to soldiers. It may prove to be a productive exercise in examining dreams and finding their relevance, which may help one understand some of the issues they are dealing with. Although speaking from experience, finding out the meaning of your dreams (the why's, how's, and what's) is not necessarily going to lead to a reprise from PTSD. The issue is how you "come down" from being hyper vigilant on a 24/7 basis and adjusting to the real world.

    You also have to keep in mind that depending on what theatre you were deployed in, the dreams may range from nightmarish images to those that could be deemed rather innocuous. That being said, the images of the average civilian would more than likely be rather different from the average soldier.
    However victims of sexual abuse, or those that have experienced high level physical or emotional trauma may suffer from PTSD as well. So you don't have to be a soldier to suffer from PTSD, it's just a different mechanism that might cause it.
    At the end of the day if TSM helps someone deal with any issues, I'm all for it.

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    1. Scott, I agree with you in that PTSD may not be cured solely through ones dreams. However, I do feel that dreams nonetheless are a very significant and powerful tool in problem solving. If anything, dreams may not help one solve such a disorder directly, but perhaps indirectly …and in combination with treatment, such as medication. But I do believe that people who have suffered from both mental and physical problems have found great comfort in their dreams. I really feel that there’s more power to dreams then we are aware of, and perhaps the better we get at analyzing and utilizing our dreams, the better we’ll get at solving our problems merely from our dreams.

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  46. The storytelling method may be helpful for a soldier returning from war as it may help them find meaning. This is due to the idea that meaning was found within the dreams more than 80% of the time for both genders of students. When a soldier returns from war they may suffer from PTSD and this may appear within their dreams. With dreams being a “thumb-print” of waking life, these past images may be carried over by a soldier and found within their dream. When meaning is found behind their dream, it may help them overcome a fear or emotions felt. If the soldier is to experience a recurring nightmare, it may help them to realize what the nightmare represents and understand the meaning, thus eliminating or reducing the occurrence of the nightmare. In the end, the storytelling method may help a soldier who is returning from war, although it will vary between individuals.

    In addition, the images that are represented in a soldiers dream would differ from the images presented in a male student, as they have had different experiences in their lives. These different experiences would lead to different images, although they may still hold the same meaning after the storytelling method is completed. Perhaps through the storytelling method it comes to the conclusion that both a soldier returning from war and a male student are both stressed about an upcoming event, although their dreams may show this stress in completely different ways. Overall, the images within the dreams may differ due to different past experiences, although the same meaning may be seen.

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  47. The story telling method would be really helpful to the soldier because this will help them figure out what they are a having a problem with and they may realize that they are suffering from PTSD. So if a soldier has a dream about his family being tortured it can be related to something that had happen during the war. Dreams of other males and soldiers would be very different because the dreams of soldiers would be more violent as compared to a everyday male who may be stressing about a job or his studies and his dreams would be different.

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  48. Corresponding with the comments at the beginning about Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, I agree that TSM would help soldiers to identify their issues and/or help them face their fears. Since we learned that dreams incorporate many levels (mental, emotional, relational and existential/spiritual), TSM can help reach information on any one of these levels. Initiating the connection between dreams and waking life can help soldiers gain insight. Since TSM is the most easy to use technique while providing quick discovery, anyone can attempt to do it.

    Jessica's story about her brother (a few comments above) reminds me of my Grandpa who was in World War II. He is now 89 and still has dreams about being in the war, but never wants to talk about the dreams or face the issues at all. If he were to use the TSM, he might be able to interpret their meanings and help deal with the anxiety that they bring.

    The dreams of soldiers would definitely be different from male students. The mental images in dreams incorporate personal information; experiences and emotions, which would differ among these two groups of males. As mentioned in above comments, male students experience very different daily lives, worries and experiences than soldiers. Stress because of not doing well in school is on a different level than stress because of violence and possible death.

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  49. If stress and genetic predisposition combine to co-create mental illness irrespective of the population, and war fosters the fight-or-flight response, then mental illness will as a result be more greatly expressed in soldiers than in the general population. Given that mental illness is a greater concern among for example the Canadian Forces, ideally better preventable measures may be needed, as well as therapeutic measures. If comparative studies, using male university students and military personnel were able to discern significant indicators from the story telling method of dream analysis, intervention could be a possibility. As for therapy, zeroing in on an acute stressor from the likelihood of insight may allow for the focus of recovery in such experimental techniques as ‘graduated medicinally aided memory modification’ whereby the emotional story is, over time, decreased in negative affect and undergoes metamorphoses, into a manageable phenomena. Not to say self-exploration for its own sake is without value.

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  50. My name is Allyson Dale and I studied the dreams of soldiers after war with Dr. DeCicco for my Masters. We found that TSM was very effective with soldiers in revealing to them what their dream means. Soldiers had much more aggression and perceived threat in their dreams when compared to a control group of age matched male university students. We also examined the discovery passages from TSM and found that soldiers learned about specific events relating to their tour from aggressive acts in their dreams. They also learned about specific relationships such as relationships with their comrades.

    Predictive value of dreams was also found where certain dream categories predicted categories of discovery, as found with males (Dale & DeCicco, 2012).
    Both dream content and discovery from the dream was relevant and meaningful for both soldiers and male civilians and reflects their waking lives, further supporting the continuity hypothesis.

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  51. Soldiers would benefit from using the Story Telling Method because they can express themselves about how they are feeling rather then explain how they are feeling to people when they can't or won't be able to. If they are suffering from the inability to speak then their dreams written out can help them express themsleves to family and friends who may worry about them. The Story Telling Method would also help guide doctors as to how to treat soldiers when they come back from war and can gain insight into any disorders that may have developed as a result of the soldier being in the war. Dreams are very good at showing PTSD which is a common disorder that soldiers will have when they have been in a war. The Story Telling Method has been shown to work with PTSD and that is why soldiers would benefit from using the Story Telling Method. If PTSD is found through the dreams then the soldiers can get the help they need to reintegrate into society and live a relatively normal life. If the PTSD is not dealt with then the soldiers may develop other disorders that could hinder their life and they may not have the life that they once had. With the Story Telling Method having a 80% rate of finding meaning then it is a good method to use with soldiers who may get frustrated with programs that won't help them through what they have seen in war.

    Soldiers dream images would be different then male students because there would be a lot more violence, death, and more vivid, real life like dreams. The soldiers would also have dreams of other places then home like where they are stationed or were stationed. Soldiers might dream of home more then male students however because they may miss their home and wish to be back at home then seeing the violence that war creates. Male students on the other hand would dream of school, sports, parties,tv, and about what they may be doing in the near future. There shouldn't be as much violoence and death in male students dreams as there is in soldiers dreams. Soldiers dream meanings would be different from male students because theirs would probably have to do with whether they are going to be dead or alive after their next mission. They might also have nightmares about the killing that they have done even though if they didn't kill then they would have been dead. There would also be compassion for the families in the country they are in for the injustices that they see everyday. The meanings of the male students might have to do with how they are doing in school, how their social life is going and how to get money to pay off their student loans. Male students may also find the meaning of their job once they are done school and deal with the stresses of living in the real world where school is no longer a part of their life. Joining the workforce might show up and have meaning in a male students dreams as opposed to a male soldiers dreams.

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  52. I definitely agree with the response's about soldiers and students. Soldiers dreams would be very different from that of students. In a sense that soldiers experience the war, seeing graphic images, being under stressful tense situations etc. There dreams would be very aggressive, powerful and vivid. I believe this method of dream interpretation would benefit soldiers extremely. It would help them cope with their day to day lives once they were back living in their everyday life routines. Also Post traumatic stress disorder is very common in soldiers and with the storytelling method doctors or psychiatrists are able to discover and diagnosis this correctly to help the soldiers move on with their lives and cope with what they have experienced. Both my grandfathers fought in World War 2 and we recently got their records from the war and it shows certain assessments they were recommended to go through after the war was over. Appointments with a psychologist were highly recommended, this made me think if any psychologist or researcher thought about dreams as a method of coping at that time. Also I'm sure many of the war veterans had explicit dreams about happenings during the time they were in the war. It's great how research has grown to offer these effective methods to soldiers and other people.

    The dream images of soldiers compared to students would be drastically different. Students would dreams of their everyday events, class, school events, visiting family, going out with friends etc. Soldiers however would dream about their regular daily events such as fighting, bombs, losing fellow soldiers. They may have nightmares and become depressed about the war or how they will fit back into life at home. It would be beneficial for a psychologists to be stationed with soldiers to help them analyze and interpret their dreams.

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  53. I agree with the above comments which say that TSM would be of benefit to soldiers returning from overseas and suffering from PTSD. I feel as though TSM would allow for soldiers to confront the sources of their problems while doing at a safe distance and thus making it a bit easier to face the issues and less traumatic. Confronting what they saw in battle or else wise would probably be very difficult if done head on but through the indirect method of TSM, it would be somewhat easier.

    The images and scenes that face the soldiers would be different then the average male, most likely. The soldier would be coming out of a very hostile environment that was the complete opposite of that rather safe environment where students thrive. The images haunting soldiers would be more violent and would probably hold much more dire meanings, such as fears for one's life and so on.

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  54. The Story Telling Method (TSM) of dream interpretation allows individuals to relate their dreams to their waking life emotions and desires. Our dreams are a reflection of all waking day events, desires, and thoughts we have experienced throughout our life. The TSM is a simple way for individuals to interpret their dream images and in turn gain a better understanding of their waking day life. In the case of soldiers returning from war, their waking day experiences vary greatly from the average citizen. Not only have they lived abroad, but they have experienced pain, terror, and death most people will never see first hand. Many young men who return from battle have great difficulty integrating into normal life after significant trauma. This is physiologically and psychologically represented in illnesses such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Story Telling Method of dream interpretation can allow soldiers to gain a better understanding of their conscious and unconscious emotions surrounding war and battle.
    As mentioned earlier by Liisa, soldiers may be struggling to cope with a very specific event or moment in time. The analysis of dreams gives the opportunity to pinpoint exactly which event or experience is causing trauma, depression, or flashbacks. Through the Story Telling Method of dream interpretation, therapeutic techniques can be integrated to deal specifically with the circumstances preventing the soldier from integrating smoothly back into normal life. The ability and opportunity to isolate specific occurrences and experiences has great advantages in therapy and the integration of soldiers into everyday life.
    Based on the continuity hypothesis, it is assumed that the dreams of soldiers would vary drastically from the dreams of male university students. Our dreams are a reflection of our waking day experiences. Therefore, the dreams of average university students would lack the terror, death, and regret experienced every day by soldiers. Though university students may express emotions of anxiety and stress in their dreams, the anxiety and stress expressed by soldier’s would vary drastically. An in depth comparison of the two groups would be extremely interesting and informative. Comparing the similarities and differences of two dreaming groups would allow a greater understanding of how the mind interprets waking day experiences into dreams.

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  55. The dreams of male soldiers returning from war would relate to the extremities of their experiences. Student’s everyday experiences cannot exactly compare to those of male soldiers. A student might stress about an exam he's having, or what to eat for dinner, whereas a soldier would be stressing about how he can save his life, or his friends life.
    Another clear example as to how dreams depict waking life: soldiers can only dream about their partners, family ect. whereas students typically come home to their family or partner every day, so to speak…Therefore their dreams would differ from those of soldiers as each experience is exponentially different. Even the emotion of the dream would differ from solider to student; a student may experience stress, whereas a solider would experience a profound longing, extreme anxiety, and perhaps even PTS.
    Ones emotions often reflect their environment, and conveyed through ones dream. The environment has an extreme impact on one’s mental well-being…so although students can be very stressed out as well (about a test for example), they do not have the same environmental stressors further impacting their emotional stability.
    The TSM would be helpful for soldiers returning from war because the method is built off of externalizing hidden, supressed emotion that lie within ones unconscious. TSM decodes these thoughts/ emotions and internalizes them into a story in order to help one figure out the meaning of their dream, thus, their waking life events and what they are experiencing. If a solider can examine his emotion, and more importantly, the root of the emotion, then this could almost act as therapy to help one to cope with such real life tragedies/or events that have been experienced in ones waking day life.


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  56. I too believe that the TSM would assist soldiers of war suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to help sort out any fears and emotions that they may have from waking day. It is difficult for soldiers to come back to "normal life" after being subjected to horrible situations that they may have been in. A common thing with people that have been subjected to war tend to try and push back and ignore any memories. If these feelings and emotions come out in dreams, it could hopefully help them understand that these are issues that they need to pay attention to so that they can move on in "normal life" and be mentally healthy.

    Soldiers dreams and meanings would be different from male students due to the different waking day life subjection's between the two. While they can still have the same feelings and emotions, the meanings and interpretations would be different. (for example, a male student has a fear of writing an exam and a soldier has a fear of dying) Hopefully that makes sense.

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