THE DREAM PATTERN IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

A retrospective analysis from ontopsychological psychotherapy in the STEP IN AMI trial

Resumo

Studies on the organization and structure of dreams before and after acute myocardial

infarction are lacking. Therefore, we retrospectively studied dream patterns before and after

acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the STEP-IN AMI (Short TErm Psychotherapy IN Acute

Myocardial Infarction) trial. We also tried to describe if and how this pattern may change

during an ontopsychological short term psychotherapy (STP).

A total of 47 patients, 31 to 70 years old (mean age 54.89), could be analyzed. 4 /47 pts (8.1%)

couldn’t refer any dream memory related to all their life, and during psychotherapy; 22 /47

pts (47%), couldn’t remember dreams from childhood to the AMI time, and started

remembering some dreams during psychotherapy; 21 /47 pts (44.6%) could report dream

material referred to their past life, and dreams during the individual psychotherapy. The high

percentage of patients not remembering dreams before AMI may be expression of a censure

and psychic repression. Globally, there was a progressive increase of the ability of patients to

remember dreams during psychotherapy, with a peak at the fifth meeting. 8 of 47 patients

referred nightmares in the years before AMI. 34% of the patients (16/47) had recurring

dreams in the years before AMI. The main symbols emerged in infancy and childhood

reinforce the interpretation of a difficulty in personal growth and evolution emerging very

soon in life. In the year before AMI the scenery set is still worse; most symbols of people dead

of a cardiac disease clearly indicate to the person his/her dreadful psychosomatic condition.

Here the strict connections between death warning symbols and the incident AMI, may

confirm the ontopsychological hypothesis that the In-Itself dream signals are connected to

the biological status of the dreamer, warning in advance of months the dreamer. All the

patients referring dreams during psychotherapy showed an evident and drastic change in the

symbols and scenery reported, suitable for clinical analysis. If confirmed, dreams might be

considered the very first signal for prevention and for a medical diagnosis of ischemic heart

disease and myocardial infarction.