Nightmares: meanings and common causes

When nightmares stir up fear of sleeping

Probably everyone has had one or two nightmares in their lives. Bad dreams often cause us to wake up from the sleep and feel completely uncomfortable the moment we wake up. Depending on how bad the nightmare was, it can be difficult for us to find our way back to sleep afterwards – a real fear of sleeping can even develop. Nightmares are so-called parasomnias that interrupt sleep.

It is estimated that around five percent of all adults suffer from frequent nightmares, which they find stressful. Children also often have such fear dreams. If nightmares occur regularly and disturb important sleep, one should look for the possible causes with professional help and fix them.

Why do we dream at all?

The opinions about why we actually dream differ among researchers. Neuroscientists assume that we process sensations and information from everyday life through every dream. Psychologists often suspect that a dream is something like an endogenous therapy: In a dream, we are practically forced to deal with the emotions we were confronted with during the day – even if we would rather not do so. Accordingly, the nightmares can be traced back to unresolved conflicts, for example, and can disappear if this conflict is resolved.

Still other people assume that a dream or nightmares should prepare us for possible future scenarios full of terror: the brain practically plays through various situations that we might encounter so that we instinctively react correctly. Some sleep researchers again consider the nightmare to be a side effect of sleep, Spiritually inspired people often see a dream or nightmares as a sign of things that will still happen.

And why do we have nightmares?

Nightmares are usually dreams that trigger strong negative feelings in us. Feelings like grief, disgust, fear, grief or even panic. Depending on how disturbing the nightmares are, the person concerned may need some time to shake them off and sleep again. There are several types of nightmares:

  • Unpleasant dreams (dysphoric dreams)
  • Bad dreams that you don't wake up from
  • Nightmares that lead to awakening
  • Post-traumatic nightmares and so-called flashbacks (reliving the dream in the spirit) that occur after a trauma, for example due to a war

What are the causes of nightmares?

The exact causes of nightmares are still unclear – however, there are some risk factors that increase the likelihood of frequent nightmares. These include:

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Certain medications (e.g. blood pressure lowering, ironically also some sleeping pills)
  • Luxury goods such as alcohol
  • Drugs
  • Chronic stress
  • Genetic factors
  • snoring
  • sleep disorders
  • Sleep apnea
  • Mental illnesses, e.g. B. anxiety disorders or depression
  • Physical diseases, e.g. B. Cardiovascular diseases

When do nightmares occur?

We go through various so-called sleep phases each night, which together form a sleep cycle. It is important for our health that we go through this sleep cycle about four to six times every night. Contrary to what is often assumed, we can have a dream in every sleep phase – but we dream particularly intensively in the so-called REM phase. The following sleep phases exist:

  • Fall asleep: When falling asleep, the pulse and breathing become calmer, the body relaxes. Slight disturbances, for example due to light or noise, quickly wake us up again.
  • Light sleep phase: Now we really sleep, there is hardly any muscle or eye movement. We spend most of the night's sleep in the light sleep phase.
  • Deep sleep phase: In the deep sleep phase, our brain begins to process what we have experienced and to store it in our long-term memory. In addition, the body cells regenerate and the immune system is improved.
  • REM phase: REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement and owes its name to the fact that our eyes move quickly under the closed lids during this sleep phase. Certain areas in our brain now show similar activity as when awake. In addition, dreams or nightmares occur most frequently in the REM phase.

How should I interpret my nightmare?

There are some widespread nightmares for which the so-called dream interpretation defines various causes that are often related to fears. These include:

  • Fall: Falling from great heights is one of the primal fears of humans and occurs in many nightmares. This can mean, for example, that you have actually achieved a great goal and are now afraid of losing what you have achieved. Or you have general fear of loss, for example you fear separation or that you will lose your job.
  • paralysis: If you are paralyzed in a dream or can only move slowly from a spot, you could be afraid of losing control in real life or feel a strong dependence on other people.
  • forgetfulness: If you forget something specific in the dream or if you are generally forgetful, it can indicate that you are subconsciously wanting to separate or generally want to distance yourself from someone or something.
  • Death or disappearance of important people: Surprisingly, the loss of loved ones in a dream could mean that feelings for that person subside or that there are conflicts that should be resolved. But there can also be real fear of loss because the person in question z. B. is ill or in danger.
  • persecution: If someone or someone is chasing you in a dream, this can often be explained by problems from the past that were poorly or not at all managed.
  • Come too late: In psychology, one suspects behind nightmares in which one is late, especially deep-seated fears of not being able to accomplish tasks or not doing certain things in time.
  • exam: A dream of an examination by anyone can mean that you do not feel prepared for an upcoming situation in life.

You can learn more about dream interpretation here.

What helps against nightmares?

Anyone who has a nightmare more than once a week and suffers from it (e.g. in the form of fear of falling asleep or general lack of sleep) should speak to the doctor about this and look for possible causes. If you know the cause of your nightmares, you can address them and, at best, severely limit the occurrence of bad dreams or even completely prevent it. If there are illnesses behind the nightmares, they must be treated. If medication is the trigger, you may be able to use another preparation in consultation with the doctor.

In the event of anxiety or even an anxiety disorder, psychotherapy should be used to find out the causes. Then you can work on changing the perception of a dreamso that it becomes less threatening.

Help through a dream diary

Even nightmares can fade quickly after waking up, so that we can not remember them after a short time. A dream diary helps here, in which you write down all the details of the dream immediately after waking up, which can be discussed later with the doctor or in therapy.

Reading tips: You can find out everything about Restless Legs Syndrome here. We also share our best sleep tips and what helps with sleep apnea.

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