Do you wake up at night with fear and panic surrounding you as if you are having an attack? Do you feel distressed by the feelings you experienced in the dream? If this happens to you frequently, it means that you suffer from disturbing nightmares. These nightmares may be a reflection of hidden fears or daily pressures, or even a warning of a health problem that needs your attention. What are their secrets and causes and how can you overcome them?
What are nightmares and who suffers from them most?
A nightmare is a disturbing dream associated with negative feelings, such as anxiety or fear. Nightmares are common, but occasional nightmares should not be a cause for concern. However, they may be a problem if they are frequent and cause sleep disturbances or make you feel afraid to go to sleep. Nightmares are diagnosed if they cause persistent disturbances or problems with sleep and general functioning during the day. Nightmares can start in children between the ages of 3 and 6, and may increase after about age 10, and up to age 13, and the number of people who experience nightmares seems to be equal between boys and girls, and by age 13, girls have nightmares more than boys, and some people experience nightmares starting in adolescence or adulthood or throughout life.
What are the symptoms of nightmares?
Doctors refer to nightmare disorder as parasomnias, a type of sleep disorder that involves unwanted feelings during drowsiness, sleep, or while waking up, and nightmares usually occur during the stage of sleep known as rapid eye movement (REM). Symptoms of nightmares include:
Sudden awakening from sleep due to a disturbing dream.
Feeling fear and anxiety accompanied by a rapid heartbeat.
Remembering the details of the nightmare accurately upon waking.
Difficulty returning to sleep due to feelings of fear and discomfort.
Physical changes such as sweating, rapid breathing, and stomach upset.
Severe negative feelings such as sadness and anger.
What causes nightmares in sleep?
Nightmares are a major disorder if these disturbing dreams cause you stress or prevent you from getting enough sleep. Nightmares can be triggered by several factors, including:
Stress: Sometimes the normal stresses of daily life, such as problems at home or school, can trigger nightmares. Major changes, such as the moving or death of a loved one, can have the same effect.
Trauma: Nightmares are common after accidents, injuries, or other traumatic events, and nightmares appear in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Sleep deprivation: The risk of nightmares increases with changes in lifestyle that cause irregular sleep and wake times, or that cause disruption or decrease in the amount of usual sleep.
Medications: Nightmares may be more likely to occur due to taking certain medications, such as some antidepressants, blood pressure medications, beta blockers, and medications used to treat Parkinson's disease, or to help with smoking cessation.
Substance abuse: Drinking alcohol or taking certain drugs can trigger nightmares.
Scary books and movies: Reading scary books or watching scary movies, especially before bed, may be linked to nightmares. Other disorders: Certain medical conditions and mental health disorders, as well as sleep disorders, may be linked to nightmares. For example, anxiety may be linked to an increased likelihood of having recurring nightmares.
How are nightmares diagnosed?
There are no routine tests to diagnose nightmare disorder, and recurring nightmares can sometimes indicate an underlying cause for concern. If this is possible, your doctor may refer your child to a psychiatrist for evaluation and treatment. If sleep is severely disturbed, your doctor may recommend an overnight sleep study to determine if the nightmares are related to another sleep disorder. A sleep study (polysomnography) is a test used to diagnose sleep disorders. The test usually requires spending the night in a sleep lab.
During the test, sensors are placed on your head and body to record your brain waves, blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and breathing, along with eye and leg movements. In some studies, a video camera records your sleep, and your doctor will review this information to determine if you have any sleep disorders. You can recognize nightmare disorder from the following conditions:
Sleep terrors, a different sleep parasomnia that may cause you to wake up screaming, talking in your sleep, hitting, and kicking.
Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, which includes acting out dreams, screaming, punching or kicking.
How to get rid of nightmares and disturbing dreams?
Nightmares don't always need treatment unless they cause you stress and interfere with daily functioning. Consult a doctor. Knowing the cause of the nightmare disorder helps determine treatment.
Treatments for nightmares include:
Treatment of a medical condition: If nightmares are related to a medical or mental health condition, treatment will focus on that underlying problem.
Treatment of stress or anxiety: If stress or anxiety is clearly contributing to your nightmares, your doctor may suggest techniques, counseling or therapy that reduce stress and tension.
Medications: Medications are rarely used to treat nightmares. However, your doctor may recommend medications that reduce rapid eye movement during sleep, or reduce the number of times you wake up during sleep if you have severe sleep disturbances.
Imagery retrieval therapy: This treatment is used for people with nightmares due to PTSD. Imagery retrieval therapy involves changing the ending of the dream you remember when you wake up so that the nightmare no longer poses a threat. The new ending is then retrieved from your memory. This treatment may help reduce the frequency of nightmares. Try some relaxation techniques before bed, such as taking a warm bath or meditating, or doing deep breathing exercises. It is important to maintain a regular, consistent bedtime.
What are the complications of nightmares?
If nightmares are frequent, they may leave severe psychological and physical effects, so it is important to treat and get rid of them so that the condition does not worsen. Complications of nightmare disorder include:
Sleep disorders.
Physical and mental fatigue.
Depression and mood swings.
Headaches or digestive disorders due to stress.
Increased risk of high blood pressure due to repeated stress.
How to deal with nightmares in children?
Nightmares in children are frightening dreams that usually wake them up frightened, and can include feelings of fear or anxiety and other feelings such as anger, sadness, embarrassment or disgust. Nightmares seem very real to children, and they may have difficulty returning to sleep after them. It is estimated that 10-50% of children between the ages of 3-6 years suffer from nightmares that may seem terrifyingly real. So how do you help them get rid of them? Here are the most important guidelines:
After the child wakes up from the nightmare, deal with him quickly and calm him down in bed, this may protect him from future nightmares.
Talk about the dream, ask the child to describe the nightmare, what happened? Who did he see in the dream? What made it scary? Then remind the child that these are dreams that cannot hurt him.
Don't overdo it or underestimate it, if the child shows signs of anxiety and stress, talk to him about what is bothering him. Do some simple stress-relieving activities, such as deep breathing.
Provide company for the child, the child may feel safer if he sleeps with his toy or holds a blanket or anything else that comforts him.
Provide adequate lighting and use low lights in the child's room, if the child wakes up during the night, the light may make him feel reassured.
Open the doors, leave the doors to the child's room open so that he does not feel lonely, leave the door to your room open too, in case the child needs reassurance during the night.
Establish a specific sleep routine for your child so that he sleeps at the same time every day.
Prevent your child from being exposed to any scary content before bed.
Frequently Asked Questions
At what age do children start having nightmares?
Children may usually start having nightmares at the age of 2 to 3 years, as their imaginations and fears develop. These fears develop with age and may become more and more complex.
Can fever cause nightmares in young children?
Yes, fever can cause nightmares in children, because the rise in body temperature at night leads to increased brain activity and changes in the sleep cycle and physical stress, which may negatively affect and lead to those disturbing nightmares.
SKY-IDEAS.COM