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

Nightmares: benefit or harm

Nightmares are a type of dream that causes anxiety and fear. They are usually brightly colored and memorable for a long time. Psychologists who closely study this phenomenon believe that sometimes it benefits a person by neutralizing the negativity that accumulates in real life.

1. A nightmare is like watching a horror movie. Scientists say that a surge of negative emotions relaxes and normalizes the balance of feelings. Often disturbing dreams are a consequence of breakups, job changes, or moving to a new place of residence . Thus, the nervous system is rebooted.
2. Esotericists claim that dreams in which people overcome obstacles, find a way out of a difficult situation, defeat a monster, indicate personal growth and speak of inner strength that can solve any troubles in reality.
3. Sometimes a nightmare indicates a hidden problem that a person does not think about, and is a kind of warning, a hint to pay attention to what is happening in everyday life.

Despite the beneficial aspects of the nightmares that scientists see, it is difficult to believe that they bring positive dynamics. Mystical plots, chases, falls from heights evoke horror, make you wake up at night in a cold sweat, provoke headaches and loss of strength. A bad dream spoils your mood for the whole day, making you nervous and expecting troubles.

If it becomes scary every night, a person is afraid to fall asleep. He develops insomnia and sometimes a nervous breakdown.

What harm can bad sleep cause to a person?

Poor sleep or lack of sleep can lead to irreversible consequences. The average person needs 6 to 8 hours of sleep per day. If you don’t get enough sleep regularly, this will not only lead to mild nervous disorders and extra centimeters in the waist area for girls. But it can lead to serious health problems - heart disease, increased risk of diabetes, headaches, joint problems, blurred vision, and so on.

From lack of sleep, people begin to overeat, since a small amount of it causes appetite and also provokes the choice of higher-calorie foods.

Poor sleep also leads to poor attention. Due to drowsiness, you can miss an important moment on the road and get into an accident. Emotional instability from overwork and loss of strength may occur. Thus, a person’s productivity decreases, and the likelihood of seeing a terrible nightmare at night becomes higher.

Researchers from Harvard and Berkeley medical schools conducted an experiment in 2007 and proved that if you don't sleep enough, the emotional areas of the brain become more than 60% active. This will lead to you becoming more irritable and harmful. Which is unlikely to please the people around you.

Causes

To understand why nightmares haunt you, you need to find out the cause of the unpleasant phenomenon. Sleep disorders are studied by a special science - somnology. It has been proven that nightmares periodically occur in all people, regardless of age, place of residence or material income.

Scientists have systematized the reasons that provoke night terrors, including in the classification general preconditions characteristic of each person.

Childhood

Children are more emotional than adults, so they experience nightmares more often. This is a normal tendency and has nothing to do with a psychological disorder.

The following can torment a baby in a dream:

• scary cartoon;
• parents' quarrel;
• loneliness.

Sometimes a child feels guilty for a crime committed, suffers from conflict with peers, is afraid of physical punishment, or is afraid to be left alone at home. Nervous tension provokes anxiety and contributes to nightmares.

Psychological trauma caused in childhood continues into adulthood. They cause nightmares for many years. Such people need the help of a professional psychologist, since it is difficult to get rid of the problem on their own.

Overwork

Restless, anxious sleep can be a symptom of overwork or excessive nervous tension. Problems begin to appear in people engaged in responsible work that involves physical and mental strength . According to statistics, people most often suffer from nightmares are:

• police officers;
• doctors;
• rescue workers;
• firefighters.

Due to their profession, these people regularly find themselves in stressful situations, which affect the quality of their sleep.

Stress, depression

During depression, a person's brain is in a depressed state. The subconscious is looking for ways out of the impasse even in a dream, so proper rest is impossible. Nervous stress can provoke scary dreams with a repeating plot. After them, a person wakes up in a cold sweat and cannot close his eyes until the morning.

Nightmares are a protective reaction of the nervous system that manifests itself in response to tragic events. They pursue participants in road accidents, witnesses to crimes, and soldiers returning from a combat zone.

Impressionable people may suffer from nightmares after reading a scary book or watching an action-packed movie. The fact that negative dreams are repeated indicates chronic stress caused by an unloved job and a lack of bright impressions.

Health problems

Night terrors can be a sign of deteriorating health. A common nightmare in which a person is strangled is a common symptom of cardiovascular disease. Restless dreams are observed during the development of a viral or bacterial infection . They increase body temperature, cause headaches, and chills. The painful condition becomes a prerequisite for terrible dreams.

Doctors believe that even minor health problems can lead to nightmares. Often a person does not feel other negative symptoms, although a destructive process is underway in the body. If sleep difficulties occur frequently, you need to get tested. This will help identify pathology and begin treatment on time.

Binge eating

During sleep, the work of all organs and systems slows down. Overeating can disrupt the process. Eating spicy, fatty food in the evening can easily lead to a prolonged nightmare and worsen stomach function .

It is necessary to have dinner no later than 4 hours before bedtime, and not to drink a lot of water late in the evening.

Poor sleeping conditions

For proper rest, a person needs a calm environment. The causes of nightmares are:

• steps in the room;
• loud music;
• flickering light;
• working TV.

The choice of sleeping place is of great importance. It is important that the room is regularly ventilated, the bed linen is made of natural materials, and the pillow does not compress the neck. Sometimes it’s easy to get rid of a nightmare by turning the bed the other way. Some experts associate the trend with the biofield located in the apartment.

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It has been noticed that the quality of sleep deteriorates if you sleep on your left side. This happens because in this position there is a lot of pressure on the heart. The supply of oxygen to the brain decreases, and a bad dream occurs.

It is not advisable to sleep on your back. During such a rest, the back becomes tense, and lower back pain may appear. In response, the body turns on the defense - a nightmare, forcing the person to roll over on his side.

Bad habits and taking medications

Smoking disrupts the functioning of the lungs, leads to constant oxygen starvation and intoxication, causing negative changes in the body. Alcoholism provokes the same consequences. Bad habits become a common cause of restless dreams, as they do not allow a person to relax, forcing the organs to work hard, neutralizing toxic substances day and night .

The use of tranquilizers, antidepressants and sleeping pills affects the nervous system. Interfering with her work can be a prerequisite for panic nightmares that make your back go cold and make you sweat. Symptoms become more acute when you become accustomed to the drug and when it is abruptly discontinued.

Why do you have nightmares after drinking?

Ethyl alcohol negatively affects brain function. Therefore, a drunk person often has nightmares. He may scream in his sleep and rush around the bed. In chronic alcoholics, the causes of nightmares are:

• decreased sensitivity of nerve endings;
• apnea syndrome - stopping breathing during sleep;
• delirium tremens.

The secret side of personality

Sometimes dreams reveal a person’s secret desires and passions that do not manifest themselves in everyday life, muted by norms of behavior..

It could be:

• aggression;
• anger;
• non-traditional sexual orientation.

Sigmund Freud developed the method of free association. He said that a dream is an unspoken desire of the subconscious. A person usually does not realize it or hides it from himself, considering it dangerous or obscene.

Doctors note that insecure people who are under pressure from a strong personality are prone to nightmares.

Creative person

It is believed that creative people are more sensitive to emotional experiences. They may not pay attention to everyday troubles, but they react sharply to everything connected with the spiritual world. Because of this, their psychological state is unstable and leads to nightmares in their sleep.

Cases have been recorded of talented poets and artists having prophetic dreams. They warned of negative events that were about to happen in the near future.

There are different types of dreams, in particular:

• dull, little emotionally rich and rarely remembered. Such dreams are continuous and are not accompanied by noticeable autonomic reactions;
• dreams with drowsy states (incomplete awakening, when a person woke up, but did not have time to realize that what was happening was in a dream). During this time, a person is able to carry out some uncontrollable actions and actions that may be dangerous to his health;
• Vivid dreams that cause a lot of emotion and can be repeated almost every night. They have diverse content and consist of fragmentary, unrelated pictures and events. These dreams do not allow a person to fully restore a person’s ability to work and are superficial.

Nightmares also belong to this type of dreams. These are terrible dreams that are characterized by amazing vividness, vegetative reactions , intensity and a feeling of fear or anxiety . In a dream, a person can fall from a roof, fly into a hole, into an abyss or into an abyss. He may also feel as if a wall or ceiling is falling on him. In addition, such dreams may involve persecution, murder, or some other danger or threat. The content of nightmares varies from person to person, but they are all accompanied by a feeling of fear, sudden awakening, increased heart rate, sweating, dizziness and suffocation. A person may scream in his sleep, cry and toss in bed. Also, such dreams are very well stored in memory.

What to do if nightmares come regularly

If nightmares do not allow you to rest and haunt you systematically, you need to take action. You can prevent their occurrence by adopting simple rules.

Diet and sleep patterns

1. A person needs a restful, healthy sleep. It has been proven that the body rests best if you go to bed no later than 10 pm. It is advisable not to stay awake longer than this time.
2. A good prevention of nightmares is a balanced diet . You should avoid eating fatty, spicy foods. Limit salt and sugar and do not eat several hours before bedtime.
3. For the smooth functioning of organs, you need to include fresh herbs, fruits, boiled meat, and sea fish in your diet.

Relaxation and healthy lifestyle

Nervous tension and stress excite and make it difficult to relax. To calm down and sleep through the night without incident, relaxing drinks are helpful. Half an hour before going to bed, you can drink a glass of warm milk with honey or mint tea.

Traditional medicine offers a good way. You will need:

• Melissa;
• lavender;
• thyme;
• mint;
• oregano

You need to mix the herbs in equal proportions in a canvas bag. Brew 1 teaspoon in 250 ml of boiling water, leave for 15 minutes and drink the product 20 minutes before bedtime.

To get rid of nightmares, relaxing baths are recommended. They should be done 3 times a week in the evenings. For the session, it is useful to dissolve sea salt in water, brew 4 tablespoons of hop cones or pine needles in a liter of boiling water and pour the infusion into a filled bath. The procedure time is 20 minutes.

You should ventilate your bedroom daily, give up bad habits, walk more in the fresh air and play sports.

To prevent nightmares, doctors advise picking up a hobby. Good results are easy to achieve by drawing. You need to transfer the elements of a bad dream onto the canvas and dilute the gloomy picture with bright colors. In some cases, swimming, yoga, running, and breathing exercises provide results.

The most common nightmares

People dream about similar things, and no one likes to think about unpleasant and painful things. Therefore, several main themes predominate in dreams, regardless of culture and age.

Canadian scientists from the University of Montreal investigated the nature of nightmares with the help of a group of volunteers. Over the course of several weeks, 275 women and 55 men described in detail their dreams and how they felt after waking up. Somnologists analyzed about 10,000 reports and identified three main themes of nightmares:

• Violence and aggression – their share was 48.6%; • Interpersonal conflicts – 21.6% of all nightmares studied; • Failures and powerlessness – 16.2%.

Researchers named fear as the most common emotion. However, a third of nightmares evoked completely different feelings: disgust, regret, sadness, hopelessness, guilt.

An analysis of the reports showed that the dreams of men and women are different. Men's nightmares are more often associated with disasters: wars, fires, floods. Female – with interpersonal relationships. Women have nightmares more often.

Finding and solving problems while awake

Frequent nightmares indicate a stressful situation. It is important to mobilize the body's resources and overcome nervous tension.

1. You should purposefully get rid of uncertainty. Special training and meditation can help with this.
2. If you have problems sleeping, you should not hide your condition from your relatives. It is better to discuss the situation with them and try to cope with the problem together.
3. Psychologists advise setting yourself up in a positive mood before going to bed. Think about good things, remember happy episodes from life and block any negative emotions.

There is such a thing as lucid dreaming. It is observed during the deep phase of sleep. The person understands that he is dreaming and can try to influence what is happening. During such a dream, you need to try to correct the situation and neutralize the nightmare.

If, despite all efforts, you cannot remove disturbing dreams, you should seek help from a doctor . A specialist will be able to identify the root cause of nightmares and offer effective ways to eliminate them.

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Effective ways to deal with scary visions in sleep

To understand how to get rid of unpleasant dreams, you need to find out the reason for their occurrence. Only a doctor – a psychotherapist or a somnologist – can help you understand the problem. After a confidential conversation and a thorough diagnosis carried out in the clinic, he will identify the cause of the panic attack. Since the disorder can have different origins, the methods for eliminating it also differ significantly.

Visit to a psychotherapist

In the vast majority of cases, a psychotherapist who uses cognitive behavioral therapy, which allows you to change sleep scenarios, helps get rid of frightening nightmares at night. To achieve a positive effect and eliminate fear and discomfort, various techniques are used, resulting in the destruction of negative thoughts, actions, and emotions.

It is important to know! The person is asked to remember all the events and sensations that took place in the dream and put them in writing. With the help of a doctor, he learns to replace bad episodes with good ones, directing the plot in a positive direction.

People's Councils

Nightmares are usually the result of events from a busy day.

Getting rid of the visions that visit you every night consists of the following steps.

1. Study your behavior, trying to eliminate self-torturing, risky actions and behaviors.
2. Monitor your thoughts during the day, without focusing on fears and worries.
3. During periods of increased stress, conduct auto-training to learn how to relax.
4. Use the technique suggested by the psychotherapist, creating good sleep in advance.

Many people practice using a spell against fear, the evil eye and damage. In addition, medication prescribed by a doctor and herbal medicine will help normalize the condition and improve the quality of sleep. You can use the following remedies yourself at home:

• valerian root;
• motherwort and St. John's wort herbs;
• lemon balm and lavender flowers.

Go to church for help

Believers often turn to God for help. Evening rituals help restore mental balance and properly prepare for bed. You can read special prayers and place a container of church water at the head of the bed. The ability of liquid to absorb all information will facilitate sleep and eliminate negative energy. In the absence of deep knowledge of religion, a simple prayer will help.

“Thank you, Lord, for giving me this day. Forgive me all my sins today. Give me, God, the opportunity to have a good dream at night without ghosts and nightmares, may they not torment me today and always. Drive away all my bad thoughts and calm my nerves. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen".

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.

How to reduce the likelihood of nightmares

Three main steps towards normalizing sleep:

1. Identify the source of stress - it provokes frightening dreams and insomnia. If you correctly identify the main stress factor and learn to deal with anxiety, you can reduce the frequency of nightmares. 2. People with depressive disorders are more likely than others to have nightmares. See a psychologist or psychotherapist who can help treat depression and normalize your sleep cycle. 3. Do not take medications uncontrollably. Many sleeping pills, antidepressants, blood pressure and heart medications cause dreams with a negative plot. The doctor will adjust the dosage of the drug and, if necessary, replace it with another, less severe composition.

If you cannot overcome nightmares on your own, you need to consult a somnologist who will identify and eliminate the cause of negative dreams.

Occurrence and examples of terrible dreams

Each person has their own concept of a terrible dream. However, you may dream of such scenes that will make even the most courageous and fearless person shudder. These include:

• Falling from a great height into a black abyss - many people have dreamed of such a vision. Awakening occurs precisely at the moment when the sleeper is about to crash into a nightmare.
• Death of parents or close relatives - you should not be afraid of dreams of death, because they prophesy a long and happy life for people from your close circle.
• Natural disasters and natural disasters - a vision of the end of the world, a global flood or an apocalypse is often dreamed of after watching feature films with a similar plot the day before. Therefore, a person who is a fan of this genre should not be surprised by dreams about disasters and other natural phenomena.
• Attack of an angry animal - people who are afraid of dogs often dream of a dog bite in their dreams.
• Bloodthirsty killers and maniacs appear in the dreams of particularly impressionable individuals. Especially after watching horror films or reading detective stories.

Dreams that cause you to break out in a cold sweat can depend on a number of specific reasons and physical factors. These include:

1. Mental and physical trauma experienced in the distant past. If a person was raised in a family of alcoholics or was constantly subjected to violence from close relatives, such a deplorable experience will certainly be reflected in dreams.
2. Severe shock or deep emotional distress. A dreamer who has experienced a personal tragedy will see a sad incident appear in a dream due to a subconscious feeling of guilt and unwillingness to come to terms with what happened.
3. Frequent conflicts at work, quarrels and scandals with superiors.
4. Mental illness. Frequent nightmares can be one of the symptoms of severe mental disorders.
5. Nervous tension and fatigue. When a person does the same thing for a long time, he cannot relax and needs proper rest in order to restore not only physical, but also mental strength.
6. Existing phobias can provoke visions of a negative nature. If the sleeper is terrified of water or heights, then he will often see himself drowning in the ocean or falling from a high skyscraper.
7. The presence of problems that worry you at the subconscious level. When the dreamer avoids solving important issues or tries not to think about them during the day, then in a night dream they will appear before him in the form of huge and terrible monsters devouring all living things.
8. Severe disease of internal organs. For people suffering from cancer, frequent nightmares are common.
9. A hearty dinner or meal at night. If a person is used to falling asleep with a full stomach, dreams will have a negative meaning.
10. Passion for alcoholic beverages and drugs. A hangover can also cause nightmares.
11. Constant communication with people who evoke negative emotions.
12. Watching horror films, crime dramas or action films. There is a high probability that evil characters will appear in a nightmare and want to brutally deal with the lover of scary pictures.
13. Presence of external stimuli. Falling asleep with the TV, music, or bright lights and extraneous noise on can cause negative emotions that will lead to a nightmare vision.

Bad dreams in children - possible causes

It is children who most often suffer from bad dreams at night. Well, why does a child have nightmares? It's simple: because of emotional sensitivity.

Children have a more developed imagination than adults, they take everything that happens closer to their hearts, they remember events better and experience things more strongly. It should also be noted that children’s bodies are more often exposed to stress. Kids learn something new every day and it can’t just pass and be forgotten.

As a rule, the causes of nightmares in a child are:

• parents' quarrels;
• quarrels with friends;
• quarrels with teachers;
• lack of friends;
• physical punishment;
• deception.

All these factors create psychological trauma. Each injury is very difficult for the body to bear, especially for a growing one that is not fully formed.

By the way, the reasons for bad dreams in adults may be the same. Let's get to them.

Deciphering the meaning of a nightmare

Experts in the field of study and analysis of dreams argue that in each case, a nightmare of a certain content is not simply dreamed of, but has a certain meaning. Let's look at some interpretations:

1. Natural disaster. In real life, a person feels helpless, for example, a child lives in a dysfunctional family, a man worries that he cannot protect his loved ones, a woman has become a victim of violence.
2. Funerals and dead people are dreamed of if a person tries to find an explanation for his problems in esotericism. Instead of solving them, he tries to convince himself and those around him of the presence of damage, the evil eye. If you dream of a loved one who recently passed away in a coffin, then you can assure that you have not yet come to terms with his passing away.
3. If you dreamed of being late for a plane or train, it means it’s time to take a break from work; a person takes too many responsibilities on his shoulders and is afraid of not being on time.
4. Finding yourself in an awkward situation indicates low self-esteem.
5. If you dreamed of a murder, then the interpretation depends on your role in the plot. If you are killed, then in real life, most likely, you have fallen under the influence of another person from whom it is difficult for you to get rid of. When you have a desire to kill, you can say that there is an irresistible desire to get rid of someone’s influence.
6. Seeing your own death can mean dramatic changes in your life.

A nightmare, especially a recurring one, always signals the presence of some problem in real life. You can establish a restful night's rest only after its permission.

How is night terror different from a nightmare?

Night terror is an intense attack of terror during sleep that causes people to jump out of bed, experience panic attacks, scream and twitch in their sleep. At the same time, the heart rate increases and the pupils dilate. But the man does not wake up. This state usually lasts from 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

Nightmares occur only in the REM sleep phase, and night terrors occur at the junctions of the two phases.

Unlike nightmares, sleep terrors are not a harbinger of a serious illness and most often occur in children over one and a half years old, and disappear by the age of six. But sometimes they also occur in adults.

Research has revealed the genetic nature of night terrors: they are “transmitted” from parents to children, like sleepwalking and other sleep phenomena. In addition, somnologists have established that sleep terrors occur with difficulty breathing, the cause of which is enlarged tonsils or adenoids.

Sleep studies (polysomnography)

The study involves sleeping in a laboratory. During sleep, various measurements are taken such as brain waves, oxygen levels, heart rate and breathing, and eye and limb movements throughout the night. During sleep, video recording is carried out throughout the entire time. The doctor studies the footage and evaluates various aspects of a person’s sleep behavior. The video may show abnormal breathing, which suggests sleep apnea, or other causes of sleep disturbance, such as restless leg syndrome.