Housing crisis hits during snooze-time

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke might be able to help the housing market in the real world but, chances are, there’s little he can do to eradicate the problem from your dreams. According to the New York Times, the real estate collapse — and all its consequences, including eviction and foreclosure — has started to cause an increasing number of Americans nightmares and emotional distress. Feelings of disillusionment and fear, accompanied by pesky visions of bloated rent checks and sky-high mortgage bills, have infiltrated the U.S. psyche, according to psychologist Henry Seiden. “People are trying to make sense of this big unknowable, overwhelming, insecure world,” Seiden said, alluding to how the housing market can influence emotional well-being. His study, “On the Longing for Home,” was published in the journal Psychoanalytic Psychology in April.