In the 1960s it was discovered that depressed people dream more intensely and have longer periods of REM sleep, particularly in the early phases of sleep, than non-depressed people. This puzzled scientists for a long time.

But with the introduction of the expectation fulfilment theory of dreaming – proposed by Joe Griffin, one of the founders of human givens psychotherapy – the mystery was solved.

It is now clear that the effects of too much pressure on the the REM sleep process as it tries to de-arouse the endless stream of worries that were not acted upon and resolved in some way, produces all the symptoms of depression. This knowledge opened up exciting new possibilities for better treatment from which thousands of individuals in the UK and Ireland have already benefited.