Sleeping is a wonderful thing. We lie in bed and dream of beautiful things, often making the impossible possible. Unfortunately, however, dreams can often be frightening and disturbing. Everyone has a nightmare like this in the course of their life. As a rule, these imaginary experiences in our sleep, also known as anxiety dreams, are not a cause for concern. It is only when a nightmare occurs regularly and over a long period of time and becomes a real burden for the person affected that professional help should be sought. But where do nightmares come from? What do they mean and what can be done about them? You can find out all this from your sleep experts at billerbeck.
What is a nightmare?
A nightmare is one of the sleep disorders and is regarded here as an unwanted behavioral abnormality during sleep – also known as parasomnia. They used to be called nightmares or nightmares. The term anxiety dream actually defines this type of dream perfectly. A nightmare generates negative feelings such as fears of varying degrees, which can sometimes be panic-like. But not everything in a nightmare has to be frightening. There are also quite commonplace and ordinary occurrences that can appear in a nightmare.
What causes nightmares?
The duration of a nightmare can vary from a few minutes to around thirty minutes. As a rule, the sleeping person wakes up after this time and is wide awake and lucid. Nightmares occur most frequently in the dream phase, known as REM sleep. There are many reasons for bad dreams: psychological or physical strain, stress or trauma can trigger nightmares. However, a nerve-wracking day at work can also be processed in a nightmare at night.
What types of nightmares are there?
A distinction is made between several different types of nightmares. There are so-called dysphoric dreams, which cause a certain amount of discomfort but do not lead to waking up in the same way as the commonly known bad dreams. In contrast to nightmares, which generally always lead to a startle and waking up. Last but not least, there are post-traumatic anxiety dreams, which always take those affected back to the traumatic experience.
As already mentioned, if anxiety dreams occur infrequently and irregularly, there is usually no cause for concern. However, frequently recurring severe nightmares can have a negative impact on the quality of sleep and the ability of the body and mind to regenerate. This can not only turn the night into a real nightmare, but can also have a negative impact on your professional and social life. In such cases, it is highly recommended to seek expert help, e.g. from a GP or psychotherapist.
How can you prevent or get rid of a nightmare?
As long as the nightmare is not organically caused or the result of a mental illness or a traumatic experience, it can certainly be prevented. A relaxed atmosphere for falling asleep, a comfortable atmosphere in the bedroom and good sleep hygiene with regular bedtimes and avoiding hard-to-digest food, nicotine and alcohol before going to bed can have a positive effect on night-time sleep and the dreams associated with it. Meditation, yoga or autogenic training also have a calming and relaxing effect and are therefore not only conducive to sleep, but also have a balancing and harmonizing effect.
