Nightmares are vivid, quite realistic dreams that make you wake up during a deep sleep. Under their influence, the heartbeat becomes more frequent. Most often, nightmares dream of a phase of rapid eye movements, and since its duration increases throughout the night, they disturb a person closer to the morning.
Of course, nightmares in children are much more common, however, even among adults, about 2-8% of people are affected by this phenomenon.
Everyone has their own fears, and therefore their own subject of nightmares. However, nightmares such as fear of avoiding danger, falling from a great height and so on are widespread. If some serious injury has occurred in your life, you can experience it again every night.
Despite the similarities of nightmares and fears, they differ significantly. Immediately after falling asleep, nightly fears occur, which are, as it were, feelings and sensations, but not dreams, because people cannot describe or remember what made them scared and wake up. Nightmares are most often spontaneous, caused by a wide variety of factors or disturbances.
It also happens that they happen after a hearty meal at night, which causes an increase in all metabolic processes, signals are sent to the brain about the need to increase activity. A number of drugs can cause their occurrence. For example, drugs or antidepressants that affect the functioning of neurotransmitters may well become their cause.
Psychological problems such as anxiety or depression can trigger nightmares in adults. The main cause of chronic, often recurring nightmares is post-traumatic stress.
If you think nightmares are just a bad dream, then you are mistaken. They can significantly affect health. People with nightmares are prone to mental illness and disorder. In extreme cases, even suicide is possible. If available, do not delay the visit to a specialist!
In addition, nightmares prevent you from getting enough sleep at night, which provokes the occurrence of various diseases, which include depression (a vicious circle!), Obesity and cardiovascular disease.
There are a number of methods that reduce the frequency of nightmares at night, thereby improving the quality of life of patients.
If they arise due to the use of drugs - replace them or reduce the dose, this side effect should disappear.
In almost all cases of nightmares caused by depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic disorder, changes in behavior and lifestyle are beneficial.
The restoration of the correct lifestyle is carried out by behavioral, or cognitive-behavioral therapy, which is often used in the treatment of post-traumatic disorders. Sometimes this method of therapy is combined with the use of drugs.
There are also many other ways to deal with nightmares, at least to reduce the frequency of their occurrence. In general, adherence to sleep-wakefulness is extremely important. The appearance of nightmares decreases with regular physical exertion, meditation or yoga in the daytime.
Remember the most important thing, observing sleep hygiene contributes to rash, and a full sleep causes the disappearance of nightmares. Therefore, the bedroom should be as comfortable as possible for you. This place should be associated with relaxation, and not with everyday stress. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine before bedtime, which have a significant effect on it.