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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What causes nightmares?
There is an opinion that nightmares at night are a kind of hardening of the nervous system. Scientists suggest that this will make it easier for us to cope with stress in real life.
The emotions and feelings that we experience come to the surface in a dream. Stress factors surround us everywhere. These could be internal conflicts or family quarrels. Post-traumatic stress may also be a cause.
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Eating a heavy dinner can also cause creepy dreams. Metabolic processes are launched, the brain starts working and affects dreams.
Taking medications such as antidepressants, neurotransmitters, and blood pressure pills provoke and change certain chemical reactions in the brain. Because of which he can begin to generate scary visions.
Nightmares at night are often accompanied by apnea (breathing disorders), restless leg syndrome and insomnia.
Noise and light in the bedroom negatively affects the quality of sleep. Only in complete darkness is the hormone melatonin produced, and it is responsible for the quality and completeness of night rest.
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Top 10: The most common nightmares and their meaning
Most people have nightmares sometimes, and some people have them every night. So what do all these horrors mean? Although nightmares can sometimes be random figments of the subconscious without any deep meaning, in most cases nightmares occur for some reason and have meaning that can help solve problems in real life. They can help you get to the bottom of your thoughts and feelings and develop an understanding of your mental and emotional state. Listed below are the ten most common types of nightmares that people have. Each of these ten types is characterized, so you can learn what each most often means.
10. Natural disasters
Have you ever dreamed that you were in the middle of a raging hurricane, or that a tornado was rushing towards you, destroying houses and trees in its path? These types of nightmares indicate a feeling of looming fear or anxiety that the sleeping person experiences. Given that the weather is often unpredictable and cannot be controlled, such dreams usually indicate that a person is experiencing stress and anxiety in everyday life. This feeling can be caused by worries and nervousness about a variety of things: an upcoming test or doctor's visit, having to give a speech in public, or dealing with personal issues.
9. Seeing dead people in your dreams
In this terrible type of nightmare, a person feels that someone dead is trying to make contact with him or is trying to approach him. This could be someone you know has recently died, or strangers you don't recognize in your dream. This type of nightmare is associated with an inability to come to terms with the loss of a person. For example, if you have a nightmare about your recently deceased grandmother, it means that on an emotional level you cannot come to terms with the fact that she is no longer there. These nightmares also speak of fear of something unknown or anxiety, about one's own illness. Such nightmares are often experienced by terminally or seriously ill people.
8. Miss an important event
Nightmares about missing your wedding, an important meeting, or some other important event are common among people who lead stressful and hectic lives.
However, anyone can have such dreams. This type of nightmare is often associated with worry that you will fail at something or that you will not be able to live up to other people's expectations. People who have these dreams need to seriously work on getting rid of the enormous anxiety and negativity associated with the fact that they will not succeed in something or will not succeed in something. 7. Being naked
Being naked in a dream may seem quite funny, especially when you wake up, but this type of nightmare indicates serious problems. It is most often found in people who suffer from low self-esteem and self-esteem. A dream about being naked among a crowd suggests that you are afraid of being discussed by other people. The person who has this nightmare should think about this alarming sign of his personal problems.
6. Teeth
This is another type of nightmare that speaks of the self-doubt of the person who is dreaming about it. This type of nightmare is similar to the previous type about a person being naked in a public place. A dream about teeth falling out is associated with the fact that a person is overwhelmed with anxiety and internal worries about the fact that people may judge his appearance.
5. Injuries
When people have nightmares about being hurt or being hurt, it is often a sign that the person is feeling weak and unable to control some aspect of their personal life. Dreaming about having broken bones or being injured in some way is your brain's way of warning you that you are feeling weak or vulnerable in some part of your life. You can get rid of such a nightmare by finding out what exactly needs to be fixed in your life and working to improve the situation in this aspect.
4. Being jilted by your partner
Nightmares about your spouse or partner leaving you are directly related to your love life. Such a dream may be the result of the fact that in real life you are afraid that your partner will break up with you and that you will be left alone. This nightmare can also be caused by feelings of insecurity about the relationship and whether you are good enough for your partner.
3. Get trapped
Dreams about being trapped are most often experienced by people suffering from claustrophobia. This disease is expressed in the fact that a person is afraid of small and cramped spaces in which he cannot move and feels trapped. However, this type of nightmare can also torment people who are afraid that they will not be able to find a way out of the unfavorable situation in which they find themselves. This could be a situation with financial problems, a dead-end job, or a strained relationship with one person or another that, despite all attempts, cannot be mended. This nightmare may be a manifestation of the fear that you cannot fully realize yourself due to certain circumstances.
2. Fall
Nightmares in which a person sees himself falling indicate anxiety in his personal life, as well as the fact that he is incapable of self-control. This anxiety is most often associated with problems such as lack of money, bad relationships, the inability to build a career or prevent being treated poorly. The feeling of falling to death suggests that the person having this nightmare is unable to escape some situation or aspect in their life. Nightmares of this kind can often be experienced by influential people who, nevertheless, feel that they are unable to influence one or another part of their lives.
1. Running away from someone or being attacked
This is the most common type of nightmare that a huge number of people have. In this type of nightmare, a person is attacked or chased by people, animals, or paranormal creatures. These dreams most often mean that the person is afraid of confronting something in real life. The unpleasant aspect can be an insolent boss, a parent who mistreats a child, or even an unhealthy romantic relationship. The feeling that someone or something is chasing you in a dream means that you cannot find the strength to cope with unfavorable developments in your personal life. A person’s desire to escape from an attacker in a dream speaks of his desire to avoid problems, rather than solve them. For example, if in a dream you hide from something in fear, it means that in real life you do the same with unfavorable situations. Remembering your actions in a dream can help you determine what you are doing wrong in real life. By understanding this and understanding yourself, you will be able to more easily cope with the problems facing you.
How to get rid of nightmares?
Set up a regime
If you stay up late at work and then sleep until lunchtime, then problems with sleep should not surprise you. Getting up and going to bed at the same time every day is the first step to healthy sleep.
Take care of your sleep hygiene
There are a number of simple rules that should be followed in the bedroom: complete darkness and silence, regular ventilation, no telephone or TV, natural bed linen, comfortable mattress and pillow. Learn to sleep properly!
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Avoid stress
Stress causes not only nightmares, but also high blood pressure, decreased immunity, stroke, depression, premature aging and other kinds of troubles. Avoid conflicts at work and at home, play sports, eat tasty and healthy foods, and get plenty of rest.
Develop good habits
First you need to get rid of the harmful ones. Smoking, coffee and alcohol abuse are triggers for your nervous system. Therefore, it is worth excluding them. But taking a walk before bed and taking a warm bath will definitely benefit you and your sleep.
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Mystic
Why do nightmares happen unexpectedly? For example, if on the eve of your dreams you didn’t see anything terrible, frightening, frightening? The dream book writes that the reasons for this phenomenon may be different. Most often, the sudden appearance of horror stories in a dream is explained by the following reasons: if there is a negative magical effect, the evil eye or damage. Many people unwittingly suppress our energy, and can also suppress your life force.
Sometimes such people do black rituals that can harm you. The dream book writes why you often have nightmares when someone casts a spell: someone is trying to put pressure on you, as well as penetrate your energy field, which is why negativity is reflected in such horrors.
At the same time, they are all monotonous, intrusive and scary. By the way, what exactly scares you may suggest the reasons that prompted a person to perform some kind of love spell or ritual.
Remember that a nightmare and unpleasant dream can indicate what damage has been done to you. For example, when casting a love spell on you, you can see the death of your lover, the blood of a person who is trying to forcibly take possession of you.
And in some cases, nightmares and unpleasant dreams, if you have been hexed to death, are associated with the fact that you begin to dig your own grave or lie down in a coffin.
Do I need to see a doctor?
It is difficult to say unequivocally that your case requires the help of a specialist. If advice does not help you, and the nightmares continue, this is a reason to consult a doctor. If you can guess the reasons for the violation, then you can identify a specialist yourself. If you are experiencing daily stress, suspect depression, or are suffering from traumatic memories, you most likely need the help of a psychologist. But first you should contact a good therapist, who will prescribe tests and accurately refer you to the right specialist.
When do they come and what do they mean?
There are several types of nightmares.
Some are associated with worries and negative impressions and do not affect your personal life in any way. Others are the fruit of a painful condition, while others even warn of danger, accident or even catastrophe. It is not always possible to immediately calculate their nature. However, there are some signs that allow you to distinguish one nightmare from another. If you dreamed about it, try to note the repeating elements.
Usually, scary dreams occur in the following conditions: with acute febrile colds, alcoholism, delirium tremens, or taking certain medications that have an effect on the psyche.
Here, even a normal and healthy person will have a nightmare, but its plot may turn out to be confused.
Usually the difference between delusions, hallucinations and such dreams is very small. Therefore, if you have a high temperature of more than 40 degrees, delirium tremens or some other illness that is exhausting, even just increased intracranial pressure, expect nightmares.
Usually such visions are dreamed in such a way that it is difficult to see the line between reality and a dream; the plots are incoherent, scary, as well as painful and intrusive, but they are practically not remembered. So it’s not worth interpreting dreams in an altered consciousness, whatever you might have had. Because they have nothing to do with prophetic dreams. And it’s not even worth remembering anything that you dream about.
What are nightmares?
A nightmare is a realistically scary, frightening dream that makes a person wake up in the middle of the night.
As a rule, nightmares occur during periods of REM sleep, so the nightmare is abruptly interrupted, the sleeper wakes up frightened, and he can remember his dream in detail.
In this state, a person quickly comes to his senses and can feel a certain cheerfulness.
Nightmares are a consequence of brain activity. In this way, a person experiences negative emotions, stress, bad impressions, and resolves some of his internal issues and conflicts.
Constant nightmares can lead to lack of sleep, headaches, depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.
The interesting thing is that creative people have nightmares much more often than others, thanks to their wild imagination.
What to do if your child has nightmares?
When your child has nightmares, it is worth observing and finding out how often this happens. If this does not happen often, then there is nothing to worry about .
Nightmares are the norm for a child’s still unsettled nervous system. This will pass with age.
But if nightmares are a fairly common occurrence for a child, then it is worth paying attention to this problem.
First of all, you need to contact a specialist. It will help determine the cause of childhood nightmares. Next, he will explain what to do and how to deal with them.
The main thing to do:
- Under no circumstances should you try to wake up the baby abruptly; during a night attack, it is best to wait quietly until the child calms down;
- to protect the child as much as possible, because he can, for example, hit his head;
- surround the child with kindness and positivity;
- read good fairy tales before going to bed;
- talk more with the baby;
- parents should not quarrel in front of the child, the child should not experience stress;
- show your baby all your love, he should feel safe;
- maintain a clear daily routine, go to bed at the same time.
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How do they manifest themselves?
Nightmares manifest themselves in the fact that a person wakes up in the middle of the night from severe fright and may scream (in his sleep or even after waking up). Cold sweat occurs, heart rate increases, and blood pressure may increase.
If the nightmare has a strong impact on the sleeper, then the frightened state may persist for some time. It becomes difficult to fall asleep, which can lead to sleep disturbances.
If nightmares bother you every day, then during the day a person feels tired, constantly does not get enough sleep, he may be bothered by disturbing thoughts, and be haunted by certain fears.
This condition can lead to depression and other disorders.
When nightmares “come” in the REM sleep phase , the awakened person understands that it was just a bad dream, and it is easier to calm down during this period.
The deep sleep phase is much more difficult. Having woken up, a person may not understand where he is, and it takes quite a long time to come to his senses.
It is accompanied by drowsiness, high blood pressure, a feeling of cold, and palpitations. In this phase , it is more difficult to remember what led to the fright .
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Examples
Each person has their own concept of nightmares. Some people dream of something truly terrifying, they scream in their sleep, they wake up crying, but for others this dream would not seem so frightening.
After all, all people are different, each has their own fears and experiences.
But there are several “universal” nightmares that will make any person, at a minimum, flinch.
- falling into a black abyss, or falling from a tall building: many people claim that they dreamed of flying somewhere into the void and waking up just before they were about to crash;
- the death of someone close: most people have dreamed at least once in their lives that a close and beloved person is dying;
- animal attack: such a dream is really scary, especially if a person is very afraid of dogs, and he dreams that he is being bitten by a pack of these animals;
- natural disasters;
- dreams about dead relatives;
- strange people in masks: most people say that they periodically dream of characters in strange masks, or in strange clothes.
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Night Terror Analysis
First, you need to ask yourself questions: “What haunts me?”, “Why does this nightmare cause anxiety?”, “What exactly frightens me about these terrible dreams?”
What can haunt people in dreams often symbolizes a set of personal qualities of a person, as well as events, feelings and abilities that he rejects in his real life. The main task of psychoanalysis of night terrors is to understand what is repressed and not accepted in oneself and can subsequently cause such a strong nightmare.
For example, if a person dreamed that he was being chased by a lion, this may mean that he is avoiding showing his masculinity and aggression. This happens because he tries to behave according to the rules instilled in him since childhood.
