Nightmares are extremely realistic and can leave you feeling very rattled, causing fear, terror and anxiety. For most people, a nightmare is probably the most powerful type of dream they will ever experience and most of us have woken up sweating and terrified because we’re being chased or threatened in some way.
A nightmare usually occurs during REM or rapid eye movement sleep and we wake up remembering it vividly. The frequency of nightmares may vary from one person to another but they are considered to be a normal part of sleep.
If we look at the origins of the word “nightmare,” we realize that people have obviously been experiencing nightmares for centuries and looking for explanations as to why they occur. Interestingly, researchers are now finding links between nightmares and brain creativity. The common link between nightmares and creativity in waking life could be heightened sensitivity.
Origins of the word “nightmare”
To our modern ears, the word nightmare may evoke images of horses in the night but the word “nightmare” actually has a more sinister origin. It comes from the Middle English word “mare” which meant a spirit who tormented sleepers.
Chantelle Wood, who works on psychology at Best Dissertation Service for an academic writing site and Top Resume Reviews, throws some more light on this. Other cultures had their own versions of the English word “mare” with many describing demons riding on people’s chests while they slept, causing them to have bad dreams. The prefix “night” was added to reflect the dream aspect.
Why do nightmares occur?
Researchers have battled to study nightmares systematically. One reason for this is that they are rare in adults. Be it the monster under the bed or the bogeyman, children are more prone to nightmares than adults.
The overall percentage of adults who have one or more nightmares a month may be as high as 30% but they are less intense and frequent than childhood nightmares. One sleep specialist reported that in studying over 3,000 hours of sleep in his laboratory, only one nightmare occurred.
According to the DSM-5, some of the causes of nightmares are:
- Stress and anxiety
- Upsetting events or trauma
- Side effects of medication or drugs
- Medication or drug withdrawal
- Sleep deprivation, an interrupted sleep schedule, illness and fever
- Alcohol consumption or withdrawal
- Difficulty breathing during sleep
- Sleep disorders
- Eating before bedtime
The purpose of nightmares
We may understand many of the causes of nightmares but although science has suggested some interesting possibilities, we don’t really understand their purpose. Two dominant theories are popular amongst researchers.
Some believe they are a reaction to upsetting events that occur during waking hours. Others believe that they are like a rehearsal for adversity or possible threats encountered in real life so that when the real threat happens, we’re more equipped to deal with it.
Dr. Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard University, theorizes that nightmares are helpful to our survival. She believes that nightmares may be a way to focus the attention of the brain on issues that need to be addressed.
It may seem that having many nightmares over a short period of time is a bad sign but people who experience lots of nightmares probably just have more vivid dreams in general.
What distinguishes a nightmare from a night terror?
What researchers have found is that there is a distinct difference between nightmares and night terrors, although many people confuse them. Night terrors are usually experienced by children and are rare in adults.
A night terror is very powerful and a child will wake up screaming in the middle of the night and can’t be calmed. It occurs in the stage of deep sleep, unlike nightmares that occur in the REM stage, and it is rather like a panic attack.
The sleeper will wake up in terror and will either remember no content or a single distressing image. People usually remember their nightmares vividly.
What distinguishes a nightmare from a bad dream?
Researchers at the University of Montreal in Quebec recruited 572 men and women, asking them to keep reports of their daily dreams. They used waking from a dream as the distinguishing characteristic between a nightmare and a bad dream. Using this characteristic, they identified 253 nightmares and 431 bad dreams.
According to this study, nightmares occur less often than bad dreams although they share common themes – physical aggression, helplessness, failure and interpersonal conflicts. Fear is the most common emotion reported by those who experience bad dreams or nightmares. The volunteers reported nightmares as having a higher emotional intensity than bad dreams.
Not all researchers agree that the distinguishing characteristic of a nightmare is that it causes a sleeper to wake. However, what they do agree on is that a nightmare is a more emotionally disturbing, intense version of a bad dream. It may cause a sleeper to wake up out of fear or to put an end to a dream but in some cases, this is not the only index of severity.
Are sensitive people are more prone to nightmares?
Dr. Ernest Hartmann, a psychiatrist and sleep researcher at Tufts University School of Medicine in the 1980s, was fascinated by the role of nightmares and the personalities of people who have them frequently.
In some key research, Dr. Hartmann studied 50 men and women who said they had experienced nightmares at least once every week since they were children. Common nightmares they experienced included being overwhelmed by a tidal wave, threatened, hurt by an attacker or chased. They reported vivid sensations, even pain, and the nightmares were nearly always in color.
Most of the people in the study said they had been unhappy as children despite not having overt family problems. They were unusually responsive to other’s feelings and easily hurt by others. Four of the participants were believed to be schizophrenic and the group also had a high incidence of relatives with schizophrenia. The group included many creative people, such as poets, musicians, painters, and art therapists.
Dr. Hartmann made the observation that those with more frequent nightmares were not always more anxious and fearful. Instead, he believed they had a genetic susceptibility that made them more sensitive to all emotional experiences. They had what he called “thin boundaries” that allowed them to let things through and were more open and defenseless than other people.
It appeared from the study that the very factors that made people more prone to mental illness gave them a “creative edge.” They experienced a dreamlike quality to their waking thoughts and were able to channel their openness, vulnerability and sensitivity to positive use through having a creative outlet. Someone like Virginia Woolf, who was hypersensitive and extremely creative, would fit this type of profile.
Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, and a research associate of Dr. Hartmann, said although their conclusions were speculative, they could point to a new understanding of the role of nightmares in mental life.
The upside or silver living of nightmares
A study done in 2013 found that those who had frequent nightmares considered themselves to be empathetic. They showed more of a tendency to mirror the behavior of other people, such as yawning, which studies have shown indicates empathy.
In the New Scientist, a 2016 study pointed towards the idea that people who have many nightmares also have a dream life that is as vivid, creative and positive as it is terrifying and distressing. The imaginative richness of their dreams filters into their waking thoughts and daydreams.
People who experienced at least two nightmares every night were invited to participate in the study by The University of Montreal’s Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine.
Chris, who responded to the advertisement to “Get paid to Nap,” remembered an early dream he used to have in preschool of his whole family, including his pets, melting into blobs in a house fire. Jess, another participant, had many nightmares in her teens when she was struggling with anxiety.
Chris, Jess and the other volunteers had to fill in questionnaires, report their waking daydreams and undergo tests of their creativity. After this, they had electrodes placed on their scalps and bodies to monitor brain activity while they took a nap.
Both Jess and Chris scored highly on the test to measure creative aptitude, which is not surprising considering they are both artists. Chris is a musician and Jess is a painter and photographer.
Lead researcher, Michelle Carr, discovered that those who experience nightmares consistently tend to think outside the box on tasks involving word association. Their brains were able to come up with different responses than following a more conventional thought process.
While those who didn’t have nightmares would respond with predictable words like “mad” in response to “angry,” participants who had more than two nightmares a week responded with words like “face” and “red.”
It is a clear sign of creativity when people think and express their feelings in less-ordinary ways. This is often a result of experiencing events on a deeper level and being more attuned to their senses and emotions.
When nightmares affect you negatively
For those who want to stop their nightmares, imagery rehearsal therapy is an option, according to Michelle Carr. This is the process of reviewing a recent nightmare while awake but re-scripting the outcome and coming up with a happier, more desirable ending. She says you should rehearse the revised nightmare for about 20 minutes in a session during the day and again just before going to sleep.
The outcomes should gradually become less negative but if not, you may need to see a physician. People should seek help if their nightmares are making them anxious, afraid to go to sleep and carry over negatively into their daytime mood. Your physician may recommend going to a sleep clinic to analyze your sleeping habits and explore the underlying causes of your nightmares.
However, many people believe that their dreams and nightmares have a purpose and find they don’t disturb them to the extent that they want to get rid of them. Various cultures have used their dreams and nightmares to offer them guidance when making important decisions in the past and some still do so today.
A final word
Research from a number of different laboratories is casting new light on nightmares. They may be horrifying for those who suffer from them but sufferers also tend to have more positive dreams than others, and what they dream can filter through into their waking life and permeate their thoughts.
Do you have nightmares where you’re attacked by wild animals, fall through a crack in the ice or are pursued by a man with a gun? The silver lining is that it could indicate you’re a sensitive and empathic person. It could also mean that your dreams are rich in imagery, positive and inspiring. More than this, they could be bleeding through into your waking life and finding all kinds of creative outlets.
Author’s bio:Tiffany Harper is a training guru who’s been working in the corporate sector for over a decade now. She is a management graduate and loves to share her experience through blogs and articles for custom essay service. For her love of writing, she also provides freelance at Write my dissertation as an aussie essay writing while working for top essay writing services.
