Why do we have nightmares?
Although they sound similar, there is a distinct difference between bad dreams and nightmares. Bad dreams often occur as part of a night’s sleep, but they pass without causing disturbance. Nightmares, on the other hand, are closely linked to strong sensations of stress and fear. These feelings can lead to a poor night’s sleep and ultimately a feeling of fatigue and general grogginess the next day.
Nightmares in both adults and children and are most likely to occur during the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) stages of sleep, otherwise known as deep sleep. We progress from slight sleep into a state of REM throughout the night, which is people tend to experience nightmares in the small hours of the morning.
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why we have nightmares and weird dreams, however there are certain factors that are widely believed to contribute to nightmares. These range from eating before we go to bed through to more complex psychological issues.
Popular theories as to why we have nightmares include:
- Stress and anxiety in our day-to-day lives
- A one-off traumatic incident such as an accident or being attacked
- Consumption of media such as scary films and television programmes
- Our own imagination
- Medication
- Our sleeping environment
- Mental health such as depression
- Eating before bed
Garden nightmares versus post-traumatic nightmares
They key to understanding the cause of a nightmare is to first break down what type of nightmare it is you are having. There are two categories; garden nightmares and post-traumatic.
Garden nightmares are created purely in our imagination and are as a result, bear little-to-no resemblance to real life. Nightmares where you are being chased by a mythical character or are situated in a fantasy world are classed as garden nightmares.
Post-traumatic nightmares are linked to a specific event which has happened in a person’s life. These nightmares play back the event to the individual while they sleep. The trauma is often amplified in the nightmare and can be extremely distressed.
The main difference between these types of nightmare (other than one being fiction and one being fact) is the after effect. Garden nightmares are generally unpleasant at the time, but when we wake up and realise that it was a nightmare, there is a sense of relief and the unpleasant feelings subside. Those who suffer from post-traumatic nightmares do not get a sense of relief as the nightmare causes them to continue reliving a traumatising event. This type of nightmares can prevent an individual from recovering psychologically from the trauma that they experienced.
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