		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="2">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p>Escaping into sleep may not be the right way of dealing with a traumatic experience, a study suggests.<br />
In fact, a period of sleep deprivation may act as a barrier to consolidating bad memories and reduce disturbing flashbacks.</p>
<blockquote><p>How did scientists decide sleep was bad for trauma?</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1435735904-247b19e2b5cfecfd77055098fdfa59b4-600x399.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1435735904-247b19e2b5cfecfd77055098fdfa59b4-600x399.jpg" alt="sleep" width="600" height="399" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76557" /></a></p>
<p>Researchers showed participants in the study a film containing emotionally traumatic scenes before. They then either prevented them from sleeping or allowed them a normal night’s sleep at home.</p>
<p>As far as science experiments go, it doesn’t sound like the most fun… Especially because the researchers actually wanted their guinea pigs to experience traumatic flashbacks.</p>
<p>Dr Kate Porcheret, from Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, said: “We wanted to see what effect sleep deprivation would have on the development of intrusive memories – what in a clinical setting are called flashbacks.”<br />
Each participant kept a diary to record intrusive memories, however fleeting, and was asked to provide as much information as possible.</p>
<blockquote><p>What results did the sleepy participants record?</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1435736127-866de515f8a561d6787ac308b2cc4c76-600x394.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1435736127-866de515f8a561d6787ac308b2cc4c76-600x394.jpg" alt="sleep" width="600" height="394" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76558" /></a></p>
<p>Team member Dr Katharina Wulff said: “The sleep-deprived group experienced fewer intrusive memories than those who had been able to sleep normally.</p>
<p>“Both groups experienced more of these involuntary memories in the first two days and a reducing number in the following days. We know that sleep improves memory performance including emotional memory, but there may be a time when remembering in this way is unhelpful.”</p>
<blockquote><p>Does more research need to be done?</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1435736232-55d6145a4933fbe7f0aa7ae788e43c2e-600x397.jpg"><img src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/1435736232-55d6145a4933fbe7f0aa7ae788e43c2e-600x397.jpg" alt="sleep" width="600" height="397" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-76559" /></a></p>
<p>Further work is needed as flashbacks following traumatic events are still not well understood. This is largely because real-life trauma simply cannot be replicated in a laboratory.</p>
<p>Porcheret added: “Finding out more how sleep and trauma interact means we can ensure people are well cared for after a traumatic event. These are really important research questions to pursue further. For example, it is still common for patients to receive sedatives after a traumatic event to help them sleep, even though we already know that for some very traumatised people this may be the wrong approach.</p>
<p>“That is why we need more research in both experimental and clinical settings into how our response to psychological trauma is affected by sleep – and lack of sleep too.”</p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2ab26bc9e">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed2ab26bc9e',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
