DH+nightmares

1. What does it mean to be "gainfully" employed (line 3)? Gainfully employed means that the man had a job 2. Look up the word "Damoclesian". What does it mean that the knife dangled with "Damoclesian contempt"? The word damoclesian is reffering to a person who killed another person. I couldn't find it on the internet, but i believe that damoclesian was the person who killed Caesar. When it says that the knife dangled with "Damoclesian contempt" it means that the way the knife was held was meant for harm or danger. 3. What did the patient fear at night (2 things)? The patient feared that a woman was going to come into his room and rob him and he was also afraid of the knife that hung above his bed in his dreams 4. How did Dr. Leving help this man? Dr. Leving helped this man by telling the patient to "reframe the dream and rehearse alternatives to swinging blades and frozen fear". 5. When is the last time you had a nightmare you remember? Do you mind sharing it? If not, please do so here... I've had plenty of nightmares, but none that I remember vividly. I always have nightmares after I watch scary movies, and I've woken up from some nightmares crying. Oh, and the re-occurring dream I have is the typical falling-off-a-cliff dream. I remember one that I had when I was about...8 years old. I don't mind sharing it. 6. What does she mean when she calls nightmares a "sensorily rich nocturnal roundhouse staffed with characters so persuasive you want to ... strangle them, before they can strangle you."? (paragraph 4) She means that nightmares are so vivid and believable when we're sleeping, that we have real feelings and emotions while were dreaming. 7. What percentage of dreams are bad dreams? 3/4, or 75% 8. What is REM sleep? (You may need to look this up.) What does it stand for? What happens during REM sleep? How much REM sleep do we get in a typical night's sleep? REM sleep is the period of sleep when our eyes "flutter". This is when our brain "sorts out" things that we've seen or heard during the day. REM sleep lasts anywhere from 70 to 90 minutes, and humans should have at least 4 of these REM cycles. 9. How much time do we spend dreaming each night? We spend anywhere from 70-90 minutes dreaming (that's in one stage of sleep) 10. How does the frequency of nightmares change as we age? (Be specific with ages and number of nightmares) When we're younger, we tend to have more nightmares. "roughly 25 percent of children ages 5 to 12 report being awakened by bad dreams at least once a week". Women also have more night mares than men due to the fact that they're more emotional. 11. Which parts of the brain are active during dreaming (Be specific, name the parts and their function)? 12. What is the possible function of bad dreams? And why are nightmares disfunctional? Dreams are a way to "get rid" of the bad stuff that you have took in during the day. By dreaming about these things, you face the problems that you had indirectly. They can be good for therapy reasons, but they can also be bad. Some dreams can be so frightening that people may be afraid to fall asleep.
 * A NYT article on Nightmares by my favorite author, Natalie Angier**