Very interesting, Mari.

I wonder how this fits in with our meds.

I wonder what the implications are for the benzodiazepines and depression. Just thinking, because I have had what seemed to be REM rebound during benzodiazepine reduction. This is kind of surprising because I thought they impaired slow wave sleep (deep sleep). . I dunno, I haven't researched it. (So many questions, so much time -- but never enough!) Maybe they impair REM independently? This begs the question, "Just what kind of sleep do we get, when we take a benzo?"

Another thing. With the SSRI's and notably with Zoloft, I have repeatedly had vivid/lucid dreaming during therapy initiation (1st week) as well as during sharp dose adjustments. This suggests a temporary increase in REM but I have not found an explanation for this! (I haven't looked very hard -- your post awakened a latent curiosity.) I have also had vivid dreams (to a lesser degree) upon discontinuation, but this is suggestive of REM rebound and is consistent with documented REM suppression by SSRI's and many other antidepressants.

Maybe I will do some more research to try to make some sense of these things.
waves