Nightmares: 6 Common Causes | BRIGITTE.de

horror in sleep
6 causes of frequent nightmares

Around 50 percent of all adults have nightmares from time to time. But what if they keep waking us up? You should know these causes of nightmares!

Suddenly you startle out of sleep, your eyes wide open, your pulse racing, your neck sweaty: nightmares can significantly disturb our well-deserved night’s sleep. Although children in particular often have nightmares, around 50 percent of all adults are also affected from time to time.

When do nightmares become serious?

Waking up from a nightmare every now and then disturbs sleeping through the night, which is actually important, but is not yet harmful to your health. It becomes difficult when the bad dreams restrict our everyday life. For example, when we can no longer concentrate on our work or even try to avoid sleep out of fear.

Although this affects only a few people – only around one percent of all adults suffer from nightmares so often that they seek professional help. But that doesn’t mean you should dismiss every bad dream. If nightmares occur more than once a week, they exhaust us both physically and mentally and if left untreated, can increase the risk of depression and anxiety disorders. That’s why you should actively deal with your nightmares – it often helps to know the possible cause of the bad dreams and to act accordingly.

You should know these causes for frequent nightmares

1. You are mentally stressed and exhausted

According to a Finnish study People with depression or a negative self-image are more likely to have nightmares. But general everyday stress can also promote nightmares: The trigger can simply be the mountain of work on the desk, the accident of a family member or the unpleasant conversation with your girlfriend that you have been putting off for weeks.

“Our brains work like computers. What you put in comes out,” explains John Mayer, a Chicago-based clinical psychologist. “If you go to bed with negative thoughts, you basically load them into your brain and force it to replay them in your sleep.” So nightmares are like an uncomfortable by-product of the worries that burden us every day.

2. You have certain personality traits

Multiple research suggests that certain personal traits may increase the frequency of nightmares. Therefore suffer particularly sensitive people, but also those with creative Interests more often in nightmares.

3. Your medication is disrupting your sleep

Some medications become nightmares listed in the leaflet as a possible side effect. Affected are, for example, certain blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering drugs, antidepressants and so-called antihistamines, which ironically are used in some sleeping pills. But drugs for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s can also cause nightmares.

4. You drank too much

It can actually happen that alcohol makes it easier to fall asleep. But sleep is not really restful: Alcohol keeps us from sleeping through the night and causes us to have nightmares more often. And these are then also much more intense than usual thanks to the drinks.

5. You are processing trauma

According to a study, so-called post-traumatic stress disorders are one of the main causes of nightmares. The dream often revolves around what has been experienced. Triggers can be, for example, abuse or serious accidents with permanent injuries. If such nightmares keep coming back, you should definitely seek professional help.

6. You ate something before bed

It is well known that eating late is not good for your health. But nightmares are also favored by the midnight snack. Because when we eat, our body temperature rises and our metabolism also increases. This in turn makes the brain more active, which increases the likelihood of nightmares.

How can I prevent nightmares?

Based on the causes, there are various Ways to avoid bad dreams:

Bridget