You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
Federn describes his own dream experience during a dental operation under general nitrous oxide anæsthesia. After having lost consciousness very quickly he found himself dreaming with great clarity, intensity and happiness. He was the chief military commander and statesman putting big territories in order with great speed, efficiency and perfection. With the strongest 'feeling of oneself' he did his duty in a glorious, victorious fight—the activities of half a year concentrated in the short period of the anæsthesia.
Federn is more interested in the phenomenologic aspect of the dream than in the interpretation of the unconscious dream thoughts, the latter being rather obvious. He assumes that in a dream under general anæsthesia the mental ego is reawakened to a higher degree than in normal sleep, while the bodily ego is so deeply paralyzed that even the strong stimulations of pain do not reach consciousness. This protection against external stimulation by the toxic effect of the anæsthetic allows an expansion of the mental ego in feelings of efficiency, speedy concentration of intense activity, happiness and grandiosity. There is a lack of confusion and bewilderment, characteristic of so many dreams, the dreamer in his expansive grandiosity remains himself, the demands of his superego are not violated. The degree of partial reawakening or recathexis of the mental ego in a dream under anæsthesia is reflected in the rationality, clarity, intensity and happiness of the dream experience. The author calls for further observations of dreams under anæsthesia in order to study the ego cathexis in dream and psychosis.