The Therapeutic Role of Guided Mental Imagery in Treating Stress and Insomnia: A Neuropsychological Perspective

Abstract

Excessive distress and insomnia are much too common in the modern world and often lead to a myriad of detrimental effects including loss of cognitive ability and even physical ailments such as cancer. Current pharmaceutical treatments can be addictive, detrimental to health, and in the case of insomnia don't produce naturalistic sleep. We present a viewpoint on a potential adjunctive treatment of distress and insomnia that harnesses specific mental imagery as a component of mind/body relaxation technique. Via our perspective on the modern nature of stress and insomnia, our theoretical perspective on how specific guided mental imagery can be used to treat these ailments, and our review on the current literature on treatment with mental imagery, we hope to stimulate further research into mental health treatment with mental imagery which has traditionally been neglected. This perspective on the pathology of insomnia and distress is founded in prevailing "dysevolution" and hyper-arousal theories. Hyper-arousal is characterized in part by a vicious cycle of chronic physiological and emotional stimulation/distress. We argue for spatially based mental imagery in the form of nighttime-sky imagery to attenuate such pathology by breaking one away from a vicious cycle of stimulation and distress and discuss neuropsychological bases for its potential treatment mechanisms which include the autonomic nervous system and a phenomenal foundation of conscious cognition.

Harnessing the Spatial Foundation of Mind in Breaking Vicious Cycles in Anxiety, Insomnia, and Depression: The Future of Virtual Reality Therapy Applications

“…Throughout the literature, these conditions are described as often occurring within, or as a part of, a vicious cycle (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). The symptoms of these conditions, the most significant being distress, may perpetuate and compound the conditions further, often leading to such a vicious cycle of chronic illness which may further feed depression, anxiety, and insomnia, often simultaneously (28,29). For instance, in the case of anger, guilt and fear of one's own reactions can direct anger inwards, lowering self-esteem, thus triggering defense mechanisms which further prevent appropriate expression of anger and lead to other emotional disorders (25).…”

“…All of the negative results of sleep deprivation will likely cause the sufferer to develop a potentially severe fear of sleeplessness or they may experience significant pressure to fall asleep, all leading to a growing trouble falling asleep at night and thus perpetuating the cycle. Adapted from Jerath et al (29). attention toward potential threats (27), and overweighting of negative consequences can act to maintain the cycle (52).…”