Gackenbach, J.I., Masiuk, K. & Sample, T. (2010, June). Long Term Online Dream Diary of an OCD Individual. Paper presented as part of a symposium Research into the Dreams of Several Clinical Groups, at the annual meeting of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Ashville, North Carolina.

1. Jayne Gackenbach, Kimberly Masiuk, and
Tyler Sample
Grant MacEwan University
Gackenbach, J.I., Masiuk, K. & Sample, T. (2010, June). Long Term Online Dream
Diary of an OCD Individual. Paper presented as part of a symposium Research into
the Dreams of Several Clinical Groups, at the annual meeting of the International
Association for the Study of Dreams, Ashville, North Carolina.

2.  previous study dreams of Obsessive-
Compulsive (OCD) suffers (Sauteraud, et al.
2001).
 compared to the studies controls, OCD
reported no group differences in anxiety,
failure, sadness, and obsessive-compulsive
themes.
 Concluded that lives of OCD patients do not
effect the content of their dreams

3.  The current study is a content analysis of a
eight year dream diary of a self identified
OCD individual, NS
 online and publicly available
 archival research
 Currently 23 years old
 Almost 1000 pages on website
 10% are dreams (n=831 as of July 2009)
 Chosen cause a longtime video game player

4.  NS has self identified himself as “living with
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder” (OCD) on
hisWikipedia user page
 Also confirmed this in private
correspondence with the first author.
Additionally……
 Borderline schizophrenia - diagnosed
 Bipolar disorder - diagnosed
 Asperger’s Syndrome – NS suspects this

5.  He was on a variety of medications for his
conditions until age 18 when medications
were stopped.
 Insurance ran out
 Two antipsychotics (Risperdal, Geodon)
 Two antidepressents (Paxil, Prozac)
 “I started taking meds for this back when I was 10
(about 1994).”

6.  There have been no inducements offered, nor
promises made to the research participant.
 Despite being archival data, ethics approval
has been obtained from our university.

7.  Non-medication dreams (N = 447)
 Over 50 words but less than 700 words,
 With a clear date as to when the dream occurred,
 With an activity blog entry from the night before the
dream, (Oct. 2004 – July 2009) (examined in IASD poster)
 From any of the clearly defined dream categories (i.e.,
mud, video game, water, nightmares, travel, weird, fun,
computer, school and exploration), thus the "other"
category dreams were deleted from subsequent analysis.

8. 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
HVDC

9.  pre-2004 dreams (1998ish – Dec. 2003)
 N=109
 find as many as possible with 50 words or
more.
 not reliably associated with specific dates,
other than year,
 No reliable association with blog entries.

10. Characters
HVDC male
norms no drug dreams drug dreams
Male/Female Percent 67%a 59%b 61%ab
Familiarity Percent 45%a 36%b 17%c
Friends Percent 31%a 05%b 06%b
Family Percent 12%a 27%b 06%a
Dead & Imaginary
Percent 00%a 08%b 05%b
Animal Percent 06%a 11%b 08%ab

11.  Animal (game)
 “it features mainly the first cavern in the game, the
one with the green frogs and snails”
 Family (mechanical)
 fan hangs from the ceiling by a rope. I recall my
parents asking me to increase the speed. Beforehand,
they were worried about its design.
 Imaginary (computer)
 Santa told me to just press F17 on the key pad.
 first known dream to feature any of my "guardian
spirits" as I called my long-survived "imaginary
friends". He looked and behaved the same way too!

12. HVDC male
norms no drug dreams drug dreams
Aggression/Friendline
ss Percent 59%a 71%b 54%ab
Befriender Percent 50%a 51%b 17%b
Aggressor Percent 40%a 44%a 00%b
Physical Aggression
Percent 50%a 74%b 63%ab
Social Interactions

13.  Physical aggression
 Suddenly, I saw a dog running toward me. It was a
big dog. It started a fight with me so I had to fight
back. I managed to grab its mouth and hold it
shut. It was a very vicious and mean dog.

14. HVDC male
norms no drug dreams drug dreams
A/C Index .34 .23 .21
F/C Index .21 .09 .17
S/C Index .06 .00 .00
Social Interaction Ratios

15. HVDC male
norms no drug dreams drug dreams
Indoor Setting
Percent 48% a 49% a 46% a
Familiar
Setting Percent 62% a 32% b 23% b
Settings

16. HVDC male
norms no drug dreams drug dreams
Self-Negativity
Percent 65% a 55% b 51% b
Bodily Misfortunes
Percent 29% a 17% b 00% c
Negative Emotions
Percent 80% a 90% b 94% b
Self-Concept Percents

17.  Self-negativity (fewer)
 The hunters searched the entire building for me
and I had to be careful.
 Negative Emotions (more)
 Since I hate frosted cinnamon rolls, I asked if I
could have some without the frosting.
 I then told them about the tornadoes and they
just told us that we're safe in here. I didn't feel
safe.

18. Dreams with at
Least One
HVDC male
norms no drug dreams drug dreams
Aggression 47% a 28% b 12% c
Friendliness 38% a 15% b 11% b
Sexuality 12% a 00% b 00% b
Misfortune 36% a 11% b 09% b
Good Fortune 06% a 12% b 00% c
Success 15% a 12% a 13% a
Failure 15% a 09% b 04% c
Striving 27% a 18% b 14% b

19.  Good Fortune
 It was getting bad or dangerous and someone
who looked a lot likeTigerWoods came and told
me to escape while I had the chance. I did escape.
 Striving
 I tried to return but I had troubles casting. I tried
many times, but around the fifth try, it worked.

20.  Every drug/no drug dream content difference
was less during the drug years than during
the no drug years.
 differences are unfortunately confounded
with age.
 drug years were ages 14 to 17, a time of peak
adolescent developmental changes in males
 no drug years occurred from 18 to 23.

21.  Compared NS’s dreams to other gamers
dreams of his generation and sex
 mixed pattern
 some implying an adjusted individual, less
misfortune, more good fortune, less aggression,
less body misfortunes, less self-negativity, and
more family
 on the negative side are more negative emotions,
more aggressor, and less familiarity and friends.

22.  Sauteraud et al (2001) on OCD versus controls
 some similarities, more negative emotions than
norms
 some differences, less failure than the norms
 but no difference from NS’s cohorts.
 may be due to the success experienced in video game
play.
▪ At first, it was my sister getting stuck on this part. I wasn't
familiar with the game so it was tricky for me to help with
this.That's when I played through the game to familiarize
myself with it. I played until I reached this spot then from
there kept on playing in this nonscrolling area scoring big
constantly.