Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night from a bad nightmare? Have you ever had such a bad nightmare that you woke up trembling and sweating? This happens to millions of people across the nation. So, why do we have nightmares? Is there a scientific reasoning behind them? Let’s find out.
Nightmares are essentially bad dreams. They can make us feel extremely scared and anxious, usually causing us to wake up. According to RealMeaningofDreams.com, children experience more traumatizing nightmares than adults. It reports that adolescents between the young ages of three to four and seven to eight experience the more frightening dreams. However, nightmares at this age are considered commonplace because we are dealing with fears and issues. Nightmares occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep. This is where the majority of dreaming takes place and most of them take place in the early hours of the morning.
According to Deirdre Barret from Harvard University, nightmares contribute to human’s survival. He believes that nightmares can help the brain focus and concentrate better. Barret’s theory is that nightmares have developed for psychological reasons: “Nightmares probably evolved to make us anxious about potential dangers. Even post-traumatic nightmares, which just traumatize us, may have been useful in ancestral times when a wild animal that had attacked you, or a rival tribe that had invaded might well be likely to come back.”
In addition, there are certain factors that can cause nightmares in individuals. If you take particular medications for illnesses or a bad cold, medications can cause bad dreams to occur. Stress is the primary reason why adults and people in general have nightmares. If you are going through a transition such as changing your job or moving into a new home, this can be a cause of bad dreams. Also, experiencing a traumatic event(s) in your life (car accidents, injuries, surgeries, deaths) can lead to an illness called Post Traumatic Nightmares. These are bad dreams similar to nightmares, but they have a more serious extent to them. These type of nightmares occur due to a traumatic event one has experienced, and the nightmare frightens him/her again (maybe even more than when he/she actually went through it).
Even more surprising, reported by WebMD, one out of every two adults has nightmares. Two to eight percent of adults in the world are “plagued” by nightmares, meaning they are consistently having problems with bad dreams. Even eating a late night snack can possibly cause nightmares. This is because your metabolism is increased after eating and the brain becomes more energetic. A study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic’s Sleep Disorder Center determined that out of 389 Canadian people, 8.5% said their nightmares were caused by food. The University of Tasmania conducted a study in which six males ate mustard and Tabasco sauce. The piquant taste of the sauces increased the males’ body temperatures during the first stage of sleep and lengthened the time period from being awake to completely asleep. Not only do spicy foods tend to cause bad dreams; even sweet and sugary foods do. The Journal of the Mind and Body declared that junk food also causes nightmares. Foods such as candy, ice cream, and other sweets increases the waves of the brain, which causes seven out of ten people to experience bad dreams. Who knew that eating late at night can cause certain dreams, especially nightmares to occur?
Even more interesting, a study conducted in 2004 showed that people who sleep on their left sides tend to experience more nightmares than people who sleep on their right sides. Prevention Magazine also reported that individuals who sleep on their stomachs tend to have the most “emotionally-charged” dreams. Personally, I sleep on my stomach, so I found this statistic extremely fascinating.
So what can you do to help prevent nightmares? The most important thing to do is to discuss your nightmares with those close to you. Especially for children, discussing nightmares with parents can directly benefit the child because it can help decrease the number or severity of nightmares. Another preventive measure is to stop eating junk foods late at night, as well as eating meals in the latter part of the night. If the nightmares are so bad that you can never sleep, a therapist or medication is recommended.
Sources:
http://www.asdreams.org/nightma.htm
http://mentalfloss.com/article/52228/what-causes-nightmares
http://www.livescience.com/32730-why-do-we-have-nightmares.html
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/nightmares-in-adults
http://www.realmeaningofdreams.com/nightmares.html
I was particularly interested in this post because I realized that ever since I have come to school here in Pennsylvania, I’ve had more nightmares than I could recall EVER having at home. I figured it’s because of the change of environment. Perhaps it’s because I now share my bedroom which used to be a very private place to me at home, or because we share community bathrooms and I am not able to unwind in a nice hot tub like I would at home before sleep. I looked into this after reading your post and found out that there are indeed many causes to nightmares like you said. One major cause being “Emotional State and Issues”. A lot from this article ties into my problem! You can look into it if you are interested.
http://sleep.lovetoknow.com/What_Causes_Nightmares
Awesome post. I have always been curious as to why I go through random periods of heavy dreaming and other periods where I hardly remember dreaming at all. Come to think of it, they usually had something to do with something I was experiencing. I was doing some research online, and found that a dream is simply defined asa ,”“Mental experience that occurs during sleep.” I was surprised to find out that dreaming is essentially just a presentation of images by your brain, and somehow these images transform into a story. Here’s the link to the article, you may find it interesting: http://valleysleepcenter.com/blog/the-science-behind-dreams-nightmares-and-sleep/