Nightmares: The Complete Guide

Gosha Semyonov

CEO of sleep products company Blue Sleep

How does our daily life affect the quality of our sleep? How to get rid of nightmares? When should you see a doctor?

Paralysis, painful memories, terrible scenarios - any nightmares in a dream have a bad effect on your health, physical and psychological well-being. It is important to consider that some diseases and lifestyle can also cause frightening dreams. Let's figure out what causes sleep problems and what to do about it.

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More about nightmares

Nightmares can be defined as long, complex dreams that cause symptoms of anxiety, fear and sadness associated with negative emotions. During a nightmare, a person may wake up from a perceived danger. Nightmares occur during REM sleep and occur late at night. After a nightmare, it is usually difficult for a person to fall asleep.

Nightmares are common in children. They usually begin to appear between the ages of 3 and 6 years, and then gradually decrease in number by age 10. However, sometimes they can last a lifetime.

Photo by David Clarke on Unsplash

About 50% of adults experience occasional nightmares. The causes of nightmares can be unpleasant situations, injuries, lack of sleep, irregular sleep schedules, and jet lag. About 1% of adults who experience frequent nightmares seek professional help. Research has shown that women have more nightmares than men.

Unless nightmares happen every night or interfere with our daily lives, there is no reason to worry. However, when they occur with a certain frequency, disrupt sleep, cause insomnia, anxiety, fear of going to bed or cognitive problems during the day, they may be considered a mental disorder. Nightmares have no specific interpretation, but they can be a symptom of something that is bothering or frightening us.

Why does my child constantly have bad dreams?

Family quarrels. Conflicts between mom and dad affect the child’s psyche. This in turn impairs sleep.
Fear of the dark or “monsters.” Both phobias are characteristic of preschool children, and they appear relatively often. Sometimes it is because of them that children sleep with their parents in the same room until they are 7 years old.
Changes in external conditions. Moving or visiting kindergarten or school for the first time can disrupt a child’s sleep. After all, a new unknown environment is often stressful for him.
Psychological depression. Constant reproaches against a child from parents, caregivers or teachers can easily provoke sleep disturbances. This also includes pressure from classmates or other children from the environment.
Lack of parental attention. Fear of loneliness prevents a child from sleeping well. Fear is especially pronounced if the mother constantly works and has little contact with the child.
Puberty and relationship problems. In teenagers, bad dreams are often associated with puberty. A surge of hormones and unrequited love can become prerequisites for sleep disorders.

Causes of nightmares

Nightmares can be caused by stress, eating too much before bed, or watching a horror movie. A recurring bad dream is usually associated with some kind of anxiety. Here are the most common causes of nightmares:

A negative, stressful or traumatic life experience, such as the death of a loved one.
Stress at work or in the family.
Watching a horror movie or reading a scary book.
Heavy food before bed.
Alcohol or drug abuse.
Certain medications that affect the hormones or neurotransmitters that regulate REM sleep.
Sudden cessation of alcohol, drug or medication use.
Recurring bad dreams may also be a sign.
Disturbed breathing during sleep (sleep apnea).
Post-traumatic stress disorder has been identified as a leading cause of nightmares. People with it again and again experience the feeling of fear and horror of a traumatic event. A study found that 80% of people with this condition report regular nightmares.
Sleep disturbance.
Depression or anxiety.

Adviсe

How parents should behave depends on many factors. First of all, you need to find out what kind of childhood night terrors torment the little person.

It is important to ask the child what kind of night terror haunts him, who the main characters are in it. You need to calm the child down, show that adults are always with him, they are ready to help at any moment.

It is worth explaining to the child that there are no monsters in reality. Parents don't buy the toy they want - the children get upset. This situation may haunt them in their dreams. Here you just need to minimize the amount of stress during the day and sort out the difficulties.

Adults are advised not to watch scary movies or cartoons with their children, not to read scary fairy tales, and not to turn on the news before bed. This information is alarming.

If necessary, you can leave a night light or the door ajar. The child's night terrors will not go away quickly, but he will be able to calm down as soon as possible. It is important for a little person to realize that there is no threat to his life.

There is no need to overload your baby with circles and sections. Due to his age, he needs a lot of time for games and entertainment, this is how he explores the world and learns.

You can buy your child a dream catcher and tell him about its purpose. Experts also recommend using amulets that have protective properties. It is necessary to monitor your child’s sleep patterns; it is important that sleep is adjusted. It’s good if the baby has the opportunity to sleep during the day and relax in the car during a trip to kindergarten.

A quiet and comfortable environment helps to get rid of children's night fears. There is no need to disturb the child while he is sleeping. It is forbidden to make loud volumes on the radio and TV; all noisy household appliances must be turned off. Ideally, adults should talk to each other in a low voice or whisper at night.

Showing concern for your child, devoting more time to him, listening to your child’s problems is another way to overcome children’s night terrors.

Most common nightmares

Some nightmares are repeated in different people, for example:

I'm being pursued by someone who could kill you.
I'm naked among a lot of people.
I have to take an exam, but I'm not ready for it.
I'm falling from a height.
I'm in a car that has lost control.
I am late for an important meeting or event.
My teeth are falling out.
I offend my loved one.
I lost a loved one.

To identify the problem causing nightmares, it is necessary to undergo therapy with a specialist.

How to deal with nightmares

Set a schedule

Go to bed at the same time, especially on weekends. Changing your schedule can cause insomnia. Remember, getting a lot of sleep on the weekends does not compensate for lost sleep during the work week. It is best to sleep 7-9 hours every day.

Exercises

Exercising for 30 minutes every day helps people sleep better. But try not to exercise too hard before bed, which can also harm you.

Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol

Avoid drinking stimulant drinks that contain caffeine or other stimulants (coffee, energy drinks, tea, high-sugar foods). Smokers tend to sleep lightly and get up early in the morning due to their nicotine needs, so the best thing you can do for your health is to quit smoking. Alcohol also has a negative effect on sleep.

Learn to relax

Nightmares can occur due to anxiety and stress. Relaxation techniques can help reduce anxiety, also try to spend more time with friends and family, and pick up a hobby that gives you pleasure.

Good sleep hygiene

Keep the room at a comfortable temperature, neither hot nor cold.
Use a bed for sleeping, not a sofa or something similar.
If you can't sleep, read a book.
Don't eat 2 hours before bedtime.

Consult a psychologist

If you have experienced any trauma that is affecting you in other areas of your life, please contact a mental health professional. Talking about what's on your mind can help you manage your past or present.

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.

Nightmares in children

It is normal for children to have the following nightmares:

Realistic fears such as aggressive dogs, sharks, spiders, etc.
Imaginary fears are like monsters.
Stressful situations they have seen or experienced.

Depending on their level of language proficiency, children can tell adults about nightmares in more or less detail.

Nightmares are normal in children. Just because your child has nightmares from time to time does not mean he or she has mental problems. Children with vivid imaginations have more nightmares than others, but there is nothing to worry about. However, if your child has recurring nightmares and the child experiences severe stress during the day, it is worth seeking help from a specialist.

Influence of genes

Genes also play a role, as studies of twins show: if one person has frequent bad dreams, his brother/sister usually feels the same. On the other hand, in the case of twin pairs, the relationship is much less pronounced.

These are pieces of the puzzle for an area of research in which many questions remain unanswered. How and why do nightmares occur? What is their function? For those suffering from them, the most important thing is to realize that no one should have to put up with night terrors. There is no nightmare so terrible that it is impossible to get rid of it.

How to help a child if he has nightmares?

Children often cry after nightmares. They need you to comfort them. As a child gets older, they begin to understand that a dream is just a dream. Here are some ideas for managing childhood nightmares and helping you overcome them.

If your child wakes up from a nightmare, explain that it was just a bad dream. Tell him everything is okay and he is safe. A kiss or caress can help calm your baby.
Let him know that there is nothing wrong with being scared by a nightmare. Avoid minimizing their fear or reaction.
If your preschooler is afraid of monsters, explain that they don't exist. Although they may seem scary, they are not harmful to children.
Be patient if your child talks about a scary dream the next day. Listen to them and try to neutralize the events of the dream.
Calmly talking about dreams can help remove the emotional power of these dreams. Dim lighting in the room can also help the child not be afraid.

Scary to sleep

Sometimes nightmares are accompanied by intense panic attacks. A person may scream, gasp, or thrash around during sleep. Sometimes such actions frighten the sufferer more than a nightmare.

“Sometimes I find myself screaming horribly in the middle of the night, and I find it hard to believe that I can scream so loudly. The next morning my throat hurts... I wouldn’t be able to scream like that even during the day if I tried,” shares a user named Joshua.

However, screaming is a relatively harmless part of the nightmare. It’s much more scary when a person sleeping suddenly begins to behave like someone who is awake. A person can talk, laugh, cry while sleeping, rearrange things on the nightstand, put on and take off shoes.

Doctors call this behavior parasomnia. It is defined as a disorder that causes unusual behavior during sleep. Usually a somnambulist walks, eats or talks with his eyes open, but without awareness of what is happening.

If left unchecked, parasomnia can be very traumatic. On social networks, a girl under the nickname Jen retells the story in horror: “Yesterday my mother called me. She was rushed to hospital after a nightmare caused her to jump out of bed and hit the wall. She now has seven surgical staples in her head!”

“I’m afraid to fall asleep again”2

Photo: Global Look Press/imago-images/Ute Grabowsky