Although some continue to believe nightmares reduce psychological tensions by letting the brain act out its fears, recent research suggests that nocturnal torments are more likely to increase anxiety in waking life.
Because nightmares may have a significant impact on your quality of life, it's important to consult a medical professional if you experience them regularly. Sleep deprivation, which can be caused by nightmares, can cause a host of medical conditions, including heart disease, depression, and obesity.
Indeed, studies suggest that nightmares are often linked to unmet psychological needs and/or frustration with life experiences. Yet those links aren't always easy to make—except in cases of trauma (discussed below), our nightmares tend to reflect our troubles through metaphor rather than literal representation.
Nightmares can be triggered by many factors, including: Stress or anxiety. Sometimes the ordinary stresses of daily life, such as a problem at home or school, trigger nightmares. A major change, such as a move or the death of a loved one, can have the same effect.
1. Being chased. Being chased is one of the most common nightmares. If you dream that you're being chased by something, whether it's an 8-foot-tall rabbit or a shrouded figure, then it's an indicator that you're running away from something or someone in real life.
While nightmares are strongly linked to a host of mental illnesses, some vivid dreams help us to process the emotions of the previous day, says Joanne Davis, a clinical psychologist at the University of Tulsa. Understanding why bad dreams become nightmares is helping to treat people who have experienced trauma.
Nightmares could help relieve stress, prepare for real-life threats, and provide insight into suppressed emotions, say experts. “Interpreting our dreams [and nightmares] often makes us understand something about what we're thinking or feeling that we haven't been conscious of,” Deirdre Barrett, Ph.
In many cases, they may help the dreamer ameliorate some of their daytime anxieties. Research has found that nightmares can help some people learn to better manage stress.
Remember... Talking about a nightmare strengthens the image. This makes the memory more scary, and the dream is more likely to recur the next night. If you remain calm, and encourage your child to think about something more pleasant, you help the memory of the dream to fade away (just like most of our dreams do…)
nightmare • \NYTE-mair\ • noun. 1 : an evil spirit formerly thought to oppress people during sleep 2 : a frightening dream that usually awakens the sleeper 3 : something (such as an experience, situation, or object) having the monstrous character of a nightmare or producing a feeling of anxiety or terror.
Dream experts believe the answer is yes, nightmares do serve a purpose. And though there's no single, united theory as to what that purpose might be, research is increasingly showing that nightmares could help people better navigate their waking lives.
"If you wake from a nightmare and have difficulty falling back asleep, get out of bed, do something soothing like a few yoga poses or find a place to sit, close your eyes, and try a breathing technique or relaxation exercise."
Impact of nightmares
Trauma-related nightmares generally occur during REM sleep, which is when we tend to have vivid dreams. When you wake up from these nightmares, you may experience fear, anxiety, panic, distress, frustration, or sadness. You can also wake up soaked in sweat and with your heart pounding.
Upon waking up from a nightmare, it's normal to be acutely aware of what happened in the dream, and many people find themselves feeling upset or anxious. Physical symptoms like heart rate changes or sweating may be detected after waking up as well.
This is why it's important to “reclaim sleep” after a nightmare and work on decreasing nightmares overall. Research shows that high-stress levels can contribute to high frequencies of nightmares, which is why relaxation is recommended.
Sleep terrors differ from nightmares. The dreamer of a nightmare wakes up from the dream and may remember details, but a person who has a sleep terror episode remains asleep. Children usually don't remember anything about their sleep terrors in the morning.
Use some soothing words, “I'm sorry you got scared,” or a hug, and then return your child to his/her bed. Next, re-focus your child away from the memory of the nightmare, and on to something else. If you do this, soon your child will forget what the nightmare was about. You might say, “Look at your face!
If you can realize you're in a nightmare, the simplest way to stop it is to make yourself wake up, Arthuro said. But some evidence suggests that it's possible to stay in the nightmare but eliminate your fear by knowing you aren't in physical danger, according to Arthuro.
“There is a simple treatment for this: eat 1-2 ounces of protein before bed for a few nights; think things like two hard-boiled eggs or a bit of meat, fish, or cheese, and avoid carbohydrates, which may make things worse,” says Dr. Teitelbaum.
Pharmacologic Treatment Options
The following may be used for the treatment of nightmare disorder: nitrazepam, prazosin, and triazolam.
Nightmare disorder, also known as dream anxiety disorder, is a sleep disorder characterized by frequent nightmares. The nightmares, which often portray the individual in a situation that jeopardizes their life or personal safety, usually occur during the REM stages of sleep.
In a way, chronic nightmares can be a warning about your physical or mental health. If chronic nightmares are disturbing your sleep, it's worth bringing it up to a doctor or therapist. They'll be able to help you create a plan for more peaceful sleep.
No. You may think you're rescuing your bedmate from misery, but rousing someone simply means he'll need several frustrating minutes (or longer) to calm down and get back to sleep. The truth is, nightmares are normal.
The night hag or old hag is the name given to a supernatural creature, commonly associated with the phenomenon of sleep paralysis. It is a phenomenon during which a person feels a presence of a supernatural malevolent being which immobilizes the person as if sitting on their chest or the foot of their bed.