Besides the things that make you sit up straight in the middle of the night, and haunt you for days afterwards.
CREDIT: NILE-CAN-TOO.DEVIANTART.COM
Nightmares are a pretty common part of our lives. They can be almost laughable in their silliness when you look back on them, but they can also be so horrible that you literally wake up from the emotional rollercoaster you just went through {like when you dream that a loved one died or someone took all of your books and used them for kindling *shudders*).
Most of us have nightmares about once a month, and that's a good thing. We need to have a nightmare every once in a while. According to the ASA (American Sleep Association): “part of the logic is that nightmares and dreams are a part of an emotional processing system of adverse life events,” basically whatever bad things you've been worrying about lately will transfer itself to your dreams, as a way for you to deal with it.
Here are some other things you never knew about nightmares:
Nightmares are mix of memories and other information
Most of the time you will have a nightmare about something or someone you know. You could dream that someone you loved died, or maybe that the cruise ship you went on last year is sinking with you on it. This is normal as all nightmares a mix of your memories and random bits of information that you've experienced lately.
Nightmare also often entail things you are afraid of like spiders, heights or fire. They also tend to last longer than normal dreams, that's why your recurring dream of being hunted by a serial killers lasts longer than that one pleasant dream of spending time in bed with your crush (thanks for that, brain).
Nightmares are also usually about people you know, or have recently been exposed to through movies or books. A friend of mine had dreams about Mads Mikkelsen as Hannibal for months after getting hooked on the show. Even when the people in your nightmares aren't familiar, they will be a mix of faces you've seen before.
Stress can make them a whole lot worse
As we all know, stress is truly bad for you, and it will make any nightmares you might have a lot worse as well. According to Dr. Michael Breus you can have something called a "stress dream" which is a type of recurring nightmare which isn't filled with images from a Dario Argento film, but it will cause fear in panic in ways like "everything I've worked so hard for for months is going down the drain" or "I'll never be able to graduate like this." These nightmares occur when you've been stressing over events in your life, usually combined with a life change such as a new job, break-up, or a death in the family.
Nightmares can't predict the future, and they can't kill you
I had a colleague once who swore he predicted the death of loved ones with her nightmares. He came to work one morning, severely rattled, and stared at the phone all day because he was convinced he was going to get a call saying his sister had died. I'm happy to report that as far as I know his sister is still alive and wel. However vivid your nightmare might have been, it cannot predict the future. According to Dr. Breuss there is absolutely no evidence that a nightmare can predict a future event, no matter how real it might have seemed. According to Dr. Breuss such nightmares are driven by a traumatic experience or an extreme fear. If you're afraid of losing someone, chances are you will dream about it.
Nightmares also cannot kill you, except in a Freddy Kruger movies of course. A "good" strong nightmare will increase your heart rate, and if you suffer from a heart condition, a truly horrible nightmare could lead to angina, but the chances of this are pretty remote according to Dr. Breuss.
It's possible you're more susceptible to nightmares than other people
Certain people will have a higher chance of experiencing nightmares regularly than others. If you suffer from depression, anxiety or insomnia you are at risk of having nightmares more frequently than other people you might know. Since sleeping disorders are genetic, If one of your parents or grandparents suffers from them, chances are having frequent nightmares will have been passed unto you or someone else in your family. Any medication you might take could also influence the frequency of nightmares, such as antidepressants, antipsychotics or antihistamines according to the ASA.
Things you can do to reduce nightmares
You aren't helpless in your battle against nightmares, there are few things you can do to make sure you aren't plagued by them as often. As you can read above, stress is a major factor. Dealing with your stress with the help or your doctor or therapist will also greatly reduce the chance of nightmares. It will also be a lot better for your health to learn to deal with stress, so that's always a good idea. Of course there are also hundreds of self help books and websites if you want to tackle the problem yourself first.
Another thing to do is try and avoid stressful situations or things that might set you off emotionally right before bed. Simple things like, if you don't like horror movies, don't watch one right before bed, even if your partner loves them. Another thing is that if you're experiencing difficulties at work, don't (literally) take your work to bed with you, schedule some "me time" before bed.
However, if you are experiencing nightmares regularly, you might be suffering fromchronic nightmares, and you should definitely see your doctor and a sleep specialist to help you deal with it, and to see what possible treatments there are.
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