Nightmares and Human Conflict by John E. Mack, M.D. - Paperback Psychology

"For years he [Dr. John Mack] has been treating boys and girls who are unusually nervous or fearful, who have exceptional trouble getting along with their families or in school, who suffer from worries or complaints that have finally required referral to a psychiatrist, and who have suffered severe and persistent nightmares.  In a field whose whole concern is human affliction, nightmares are uniquely burdensome.  In Dr. Mack's world, 'the common feature of all descriptions of nightmare is the terror of overwhelming intensity that accompanies the dream images'--dread, horror, a feeling of suffocation or paralysis.  The dreamer wakes up still haunted, in a cold sweat, his heart pounding.  He may fell like calling for help, he may have screamed as he awakened.  Not only children but adults can be overwhelmed by nightmares...

"The 'human condition' has become a cliche, yet there is a 'human condition' that no 'social engineering' or 'life style' seems able to do away with.  We all face inescapable tasks that are associated with the pain our nightmares register..." -- from the introduction by Robert Coles