Why do people have nightmares and how can you get rid of them?

04.08.2018 Sleep diseases, About Sleep, Parasomnia

Every person has had terrible dreams at least once in their life. But if they come to some people occasionally, they torment others constantly. The state of fear is accompanied by cold sweat, rapid breathing and confusion. At the same time, the time a person returns to normal depends on the phase in which the dreams appeared.

If nightmares occur in the fast-wave phase, then the person wakes up quickly and immediately realizes the unreality of the events. When terrible dreams come in a state of deep sleep, the sleeper is unable to quickly escape from the “embraces of Morpheus”, so he is not aware of reality for several minutes after waking up.

Symptoms

When bad dreams occur rarely, it is sometimes associated with a nervous breakdown, shock, stress, or even just watching a horror movie before bed. But if nightmares are constant, they are trying to warn a person about something, for example, about the presence of a serious illness. This is especially pronounced in cases where the entire dream or some event in it is repeated.

For example, in England, a man complained to doctors that he once had a nightmare about dying from a knife wound to the stomach. After that, the terrible dream came to him every night, sometimes changing, but the essence remained the same. A couple of months later, oncologists diagnosed pancreatic cancer.

Bad dreams come to a person not only during a serious illness, but also in cases of mild illness, such as a cold or flu. Psychologists and somnologists are trying to identify the relationship between terrible events in visions and reality, but this science has not yet been studied, and it is not always possible to draw the right conclusions.

Psychology of nightmare

Experts, answering the question of why nightmares occur, mention the patient’s emotional state. Bad dreams go hand in hand with financial, psychological or physiological difficulties in life.

Nightmares often develop due to the inability to realize oneself in the professional sphere. In such cases, the plot of the dream is closely related to work and can be repeated almost unchanged.

Stages of getting rid of night terrors

Having decided why you have nightmares, it’s time to say “Goodbye!” to them.
The fight against nightmares is a fight against health problems, unbalanced mental and restless states, disagreements in relationships with other people. Children also have scary dreams, but their reasons for having such dreams differ from those of adults. This is connected both with the physiology of the child and with the awareness of oneself as an individual and a unit of society. How to stop having nightmares?

• Change your thinking. This applies more to impressionable people who see some signs in any troubles, transfer this to magic, believe in fortune telling and are afraid of everything around them. In this way, they only wind themselves up and transfer their fantasy to real life, which is not worth doing.

• Make your own movie. Various techniques allow you to correctly understand and accept the dream, and get rid of its bad influence on your body and thoughts. Replay your nightmare several times in your head, replace the scary episodes with more acceptable ones, imagine some actors in place of the characters, try to find funny and absurd moments.

• A dream is not reality. Understand that night dreams should not affect a person’s real life. They are not the future and cannot change your destiny.

We recommend: Can you trust your dreams?

• Contact a specialist. If you have nightmares every night and you are unable to figure out the reasons and cope with the horrors yourself, make an appointment with a psychologist so that he can help you cope with this problem.

• Fear is the worst helper. A dream is a product of our subconscious. Nightmares reveal problems that exist at this stage that need to be solved and forgotten about. Immediately after this, bad dreams will disappear.

• Write down your visions. Analyzing images, details and actions will quickly help resolve the issue of the causes of nightmares.

• Share. Tell a loved one about your dream and anxiety. He will be able to notice some shortcomings or complexes that you were not aware of.

Causes

The causes of nightmares should be sought if they torment a person every night, disrupting peaceful sleep and rest. A number of them are associated with an incorrect lifestyle, while others can warn of the development of serious diseases - the etiology of scary dreams must be clarified.

Preschool age

The child has nightmares due to the fact that he has a high sensitivity threshold. Bad dreams can be triggered by vivid negative impressions, a complete absence of friends, insults from peers, and strong quarrels between parents.

In dysfunctional families, where deception and physical punishment are considered the norm, children constantly have nightmares. The same can be said about children in orphanages.

The only thing parents need to do is to provide their child with a stable, supportive environment in the family, be attentive to his fears and pay attention to how the child communicates with his peers. Very soon, terrible dreams will stop appearing to him at night, and with the development of the nervous system, the syndrome will completely disappear.

Overwork

It occurs in both children and adults. It often appears in children aged 2-4 years, when at times the need to go to bed during the day disappears. As a result, the child becomes very tired in the evening, which manifests itself in dreams.

Overwork in adults is mainly associated with daytime experiences and unresolved issues that a person subconsciously tries to sort out during rest. The same thing happens when it comes to severe fatigue associated with a change of environment, for example, when moving.

Depression and stress

A large number of stressful situations during the daytime is a common cause of nightmares. This is a professional syndrome of firefighters, doctors, law enforcement or rescue services.

But other reasons for developing depression can cause scary dreams. Any person, being in a state of strong emotional experiences, loses peace day and night, because he unconsciously tries to find a way out of the current situation. This situation gives rise to emotional overstrain that turns into nightmares.

A psychotherapist will help you sort out your problems and restore calm to your life by protecting yourself from sources of constant stress. Without special treatment, bad dreams will return every night.

Various diseases

Diseases of the internal organs cause nightmares, whether a person knows about them or not. As a rule, they are accompanied by additional symptoms such as:

• Headache;
• Neurosis;
• Increased body temperature;
• Severe hypoxia.

If you continue to feel unwell for several days, and you begin to have nightmares, you should consult your doctor and undergo a full preventive examination.

Binge eating

Endocrinologists, therapists, somnologists, nutritionists and even trainers in the gym say that it is not recommended to eat 3-4 hours before bedtime, so as not to disturb your rest. However, only a few people know that overeating before bed can cause nightmares.

Overstimulation of the body, which is trying to digest the food received, leads to psychological disorders. The situation becomes aggravated if the late dinner contained a large amount of sweet, fatty or spicy foods. Speeding up your metabolism at night will lead to insomnia for a couple of hours at best, and debilitating nightmares at worst.

Rest in unsuitable conditions

Going to bed should be accompanied by certain rituals, including the preparation of comfortable conditions. Bright light, loud music, stale air, foreign odors, etc. can disrupt the process of falling asleep. In normal situations, such inconveniences lead to sleep disturbances and sometimes even frequent nightmares.

Ancient teachings claim that bad dreams are caused by negative energy. They explain night visions by the incorrect position of the bed, the poor furnishings of the room, or the negative aura of the sleeping place itself. In some cases, furnishing a room according to Feng Shui or any other teaching helps to achieve a restful sleep. However, scientists have not yet been able to give a scientific explanation for this phenomenon and are inclined to believe that self-hypnosis is to blame.

Where to sleep with your head correctly

Creative person

People who are creative are more likely to have scary dreams than others. This is due to the fact that they have a high threshold of sensitivity; they experience all negative events in life more intensely.

It is creative individuals who see prophetic dreams and predict bad events, which then come true.

Having bad habits

This includes not only smoking, alcohol abuse and drug use, but also addiction to caffeine-based tonic drinks, long-term use of medications and other negative factors that destroy the body from the inside. All this keeps the nervous system in a state of excitement and does not allow you to relax at night. This is the simplest explanation for why nightmares occur after heavy drinking.

Scary dreams are experienced by young mothers who keep themselves alert with a fair amount of caffeine and at the same time are constantly under stress. If such a symptom begins to appear, the body gives a signal that it is time to stop and reconsider your lifestyle, to find harmony with yourself.

Another personality

Psychologists know that every person has good and bad sides. What others see is the result of a daily struggle with oneself. By nature, one of the sides is expressed more strongly than the other, and if a person has to fight with it, it turns into nightmares.

Why do hangovers give you nightmares?

Small doses of alcohol have approximately the same effects as sedatives (hypnotics). A glass of wine helps you relax and then fall asleep quickly. However, gradually the habit of drinking regularly develops, a hangover appears and the need to increase the dose of alcohol appears. This leads to poisoning and addiction, which negatively affects dreams.

Doctors believe that sleep disorders are affected by diseases and malfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract and auxiliary digestive organs. With a large amount of alcohol, the liver is forced to work more actively. She does not rest even when a person falls asleep. Because of this, hangovers cause scary dreams.

Alcohol-containing drinks are perceived by the human body as poison. Not only internal organs and systems are under tension, but also the psyche. The more you drink the night before, the higher the risk of having a realistic nightmare when you sleep, or waking up in an icy sweat.

The brain, while drinking alcohol and after a feast, is “fed” with toxic substances. They disrupt its functioning and force it to send incorrect signals to the nervous system, muscles and tissues.

This leads to spasms and convulsions, sleep apnea (stopping breathing), interruptions in heart rhythm and, as a result, terrifying images in your sleep.

During alcohol intoxication and a hangover, sleep becomes intermittent, superficial, the nerves are unable to calm down, and the body is tense.

In this state, a person is too sensitive to external stimuli: noise, light, room temperature, and so on. These factors are some of the external causes of frequent nightmares.

The benefits and harms of nightmares

It is traditionally believed that nightmares only bring harm, since they disrupt the normal process of rest, frighten the sleeper, and sometimes haunt him for a long time in real life in his memories. But it turns out that in some cases having a bad dream is useful, since a psychological “reboot” helps to throw off the burden of worries and survive stressful moments in life.

The positive aspects of scary dreams include:

• Personal growth if the vision comes at a turning point in life and helps to survive it. Moreover, the dream itself can be nightmarish throughout its entire duration, and end with the dreamer’s unexpected victory over difficulties.
• The release of negative emotions allows you to relieve the nervous system. Even if you had to wake up in the middle of the night, in the morning the person will be rested and full of strength, since all the accumulated negative emotions will go away.
• Nightmares in some cases help to realize a hidden problem in one or another area of ​​life. Having understood this, a person will deal with difficulties in reality.

But all this makes sense if bad dreams come rarely. In cases where nightmares torment the sleeping person every night, insomnia develops, the person becomes nervous, irritable, and there is a significant deterioration in well-being. Naturally, in this case, terrible dreams only bring harm.

Is there a connection between illnesses and dreams?

Scientists have proven through a number of studies that certain events in a nightmare can become an alarm bell regarding your health. Depending on the plot of scary dreams, the body can signal problems in the body:

• Fights, violence, war, shootings - elevated body temperature, neurasthenia, overexcitement.
• Dreaming about the fear of dying – pathologies of the heart muscle.
• “Pectoris angina”, lack of air – problems with the lungs.
• A dream about an insect attack, bites, someone stings you - diseases of the epidermis (skin).
• A muddy lake or swamp, cold water or shower signal colds, flu, and sore throat.

Many people claim that nightmares can also be beneficial, which is impossible to believe. Nightmares often indicate existing problems (mostly psychological) and warn of their consequences.

Also, negative emotions received due to severe stress or depression pass through nightmares and spill out. Another advantage of such visions is personal growth. When in a terrible nightmare you fight with someone, overcome obstacles, defeat yourself - this speaks of your development as a person.

There is no need to be afraid of the unknown and imaginary things. Dreams are not only harmful, but also help to cope with life's difficulties.

Start building relationships within your family, take care of yourself, eat right and get more rest, resolve disputes in a timely manner - and then pleasant dreams will not be long in coming. Author: Olesya Kulchitskaya

Causes of nightmares by age

At different ages, the same dreams carry different meanings. The older you get, the more often a person wonders why they have nightmares. And this is correct, because in childhood bad dreams are driven by emotions, in adolescence - by the formation of hormonal levels, and only in adulthood does the ability to rationally approach deciphering night visions appear.

Bad dreams in a child

Children's nightmares are associated with strong impressions and fears that the child causes in himself or with the help of other children. A good fantasy encourages you to come up with various scary stories or give special meaning to ordinary natural phenomena.

In addition, nightmares in children are associated with stress. The reasons for it are different:

• Transfer to another school;
• Frequent quarrels between parents;
• Preparing to visit the doctor.

The task of parents in such situations is to try to calm the baby as much as possible, give him a positive attitude and maintain a calm emotional environment in the family.

The third reason for terrible night visions is an illness accompanied by an increase in temperature and taking medications.

Bad dreams in a teenager

Adolescence is a difficult time for every person and his loved ones, since during this period it becomes difficult to keep one’s emotions under control, and cases of quarrels with relatives and peers become more frequent. The situation is complicated by the fact that it is during puberty, when a teenager is trying to understand himself, that he has to make a serious choice of his future profession. Lack of sufficient psychological maturity leads to wrong decisions, fears that the wrong choice will negatively affect the rest of your life.

Bad dreams among teenagers reflect all their fears, worries, and are also a consequence of ongoing emotional stress. The best thing parents can do is to make it clear to the child that they will accept any of his decisions and will support him in all his endeavors. If you begin to have nightmares in the year of passing exams, urgent emotional relief is needed - a weekend spent not studying textbooks, but with friends outdoors in active games or in the family circle will have a positive effect on the changing body and will help cope with fears.

Bad dreams in adults

Adults treat nightmares differently. Rational thinking allows you to quickly determine the cause of bad dreams, be it watching horror movies at night or a lot of stress in your life.

Nightmares are most severe during pregnancy. This is the time when a woman is most susceptible to external negative influences, supported by changes in hormonal levels and a large number of fears, such as difficult childbirth, the birth of a sick child, and the possibility of miscarriage. Unfortunately, not many people understand that expectant mothers need support more than ever and do not pay attention to the condition of the pregnant woman.

If daily nightmares appear and threaten the health of the mother and her child, you should seek help from a psychologist and drink light sedative herbal decoctions before bed.

What is a nightmare?

Nightmare

- This is a nocturnal episode in which a person experiences horror, can often and sharply toss and turn in bed, scream and beat his arms and legs. These attacks are often associated with sleepwalking. Nightmares are most common in children, but adults can also suffer from the condition. Typically the attack lasts from 30 seconds to 3 minutes, but can last much longer [1].

Nightmares are unpleasant for all people, but in general they are not a cause for medical concern.

Scientists from Norway have studied different types of parasomnia

(sleep disorders) and surveyed 1,000 randomly selected participants and asked whether they had experienced nightmares. The study results showed that 10.4% of participants had experienced a nightmare at least once in their life and 2.7% had experienced a nightmare in the past 3 months [2].

A similar study was conducted in the UK. Of the 4972 participants, 2.2% reported experiencing nightmares [3].

According to statistics, 7 million US residents have experienced nightmares at least once in their lives.

Daily nightmares

When wondering why people have nightmares every night, they don’t think that the reason lies in improper preparation for bed. Overeating, an uncomfortable mattress, poor quality bedding - all this leads to discomfort and bad dreams.

To get rid of nightly nightmares, it is recommended to take several measures to promote good dreams:

• Last meal no later than 3-4 hours before bedtime;
• A short walk in the fresh air 30 minutes before rest;
• A warm, relaxing bath with essential oils will make going to bed easier;
• Herbal sedative tea helps normalize the activity of the central nervous system;
• Ventilating the room will enrich the air with oxygen;
• It is better to fall asleep in silence or with quiet, pleasant music;
• Avoid watching horror movies before bed.

If all these measures did not help, and bad dreams continue to torment a person every night, you should consult a doctor and be checked for the possibility of developing pathological processes in the body.

Features of children's sleep

Without knowing the reason why their children have nightmares, parents begin to behave incorrectly and choose the wrong tactics.
However, the sources of nightmares differ between adults and children. Motives of children's nightmares:

• Parental quarrels and showdown.
• Insufficient attention to your children, lack of emotional contact with them.
• Excessive guardianship, daily control over the child.
• Incorrect upbringing, inconsistency of parents in the development of the child.
• The child is given high demands and wants impossible things that may not even be appropriate for his age.
• Mom is often tense, screams, breaks down, thereby passing on fear to her son or daughter.

Parents need to take the following measures:

1. The baby should fall asleep with a feeling of safety and security. Find out how his day went, what new things he learned, what worries him or makes him happy. For children, the support and understanding of their loved ones, mom and dad first and foremost, is very important.
2. Give your child a toy or a stuffed animal that will become his guard before plunging into the kingdom of Morpheus.
3. Do not pay too much attention to dreams, otherwise this emphasis may turn into a child’s manipulation of adults.
4. Don't panic yourself. Your child’s unconscious is a regulated mechanism that presents only tasks that are feasible for the baby in the form of dreams.
5. Increase the number of hours you sleep. A young body needs to rest more time.
6. Set your child up for a positive sleep, cheer him up, read a fairy tale together, play with him.

Solving the problem during the day

In cases where nightmares are not accompanied by destructive processes, and you cannot cope with them on your own, it is good to try several methods of dealing with bad dreams in daylight:

• Getting out of stress on your own, for example, taking a long rest, returning to your favorite hobby, self-care;
• Discussing scary dreams with loved ones, perhaps together we can find the cause of the problem;
• Increased self-esteem;
• Understanding dreams and working out another scenario for the development of events, leading to a positive ending to the nightmare.

In some cases, psychotherapists help in the fight against fears. Comprehensive therapy, consisting of regular conversations and taking mild sedatives, allows you to calm your emotions and look at the situation with a fresh perspective.

Prevention

There are no special measures to prevent nightmares. However, research shows that healthy, positive people rarely complain of any sleep problems. Doctors recommend a set of simple measures to prevent the occurrence of scary dreams:

• Compliance with the rituals of preparing for bed and preparing a comfortable place to rest;
• Maintaining normal physical activity throughout the day;
• Engaging in any hobby that requires increased concentration - drawing, assembling puzzles, knitting, etc.;
• The use of practices that allow you to find harmony with yourself, for example, yoga, simple or breathing exercises.

We must not forget that nightmares are the result of the activity of the subconscious. All visions that take place at night will not occur in reality. After waking up, you need to calm down and rationally approach the analysis of a bad dream. This approach will allow you to give up further worries about this and will be an excellent prevention of the occurrence of new disturbing dreams.