Why do nightmares happen?

We have all had them, those dreams in the middle of the night full of terrifying images that haunt us and flood us with feelings of fear, anxiety or sadness. It usually involves some kind of dangerous situation like falling or drowning, a scary object or animal like snakes or haunted houses, or even people we know or demonic versions of them.

Sometimes nightmares can be mild and simple like falling, which wake us up quickly. Other times, nightmares seem so vivid and real that they literally scare us even after we wake up. We learned long ago when we were kids that these bad dreams weren’t really caused by the monsters in our closet, but exactly why do nightmares happen?

There are a variety of physical and psychological reasons why nightmares occur. For example, having a high fever can cause a variety of nightmares. Sleeping in a place like very narrow rooms or low bunks or in a position where you are facing a wall or lying on your pillow can often lead to dreams with a suffocation or drowning theme as you respond to your surroundings in ways. subconscious. Eating right before going to sleep stimulates brain activity which can also cause a person to suffer from nightmares.

Stress is another major factor in nightmares. Just as stress can manifest itself physically, your dreams are also affected by stress levels in your life, often leading to nightmares. In particular, nightmares that have a sense of failure, of being chased by an enemy, of being caught or unfairly pursued can be the result of stress. Some people believe that all of these things are manifestations of the anxieties that the stress you are encountering is imposing on you psychologically.

Other reasons nightmares occur may be due to psychological issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder or the stress of a recent disturbing experience in which the person continues to relieve traumatic events while sleeping. Sometimes nightmares appear in people who have blocked traumatic events from their conscious memory, but because events from their past are always present in their subconscious, they can sometimes manifest in nightmares.

Whatever the underlying reason the nightmares occur; There are a few things you can do to help minimize the occurrence of these negative dreams. Being calm and sleeping in a relaxing environment can help relieve anxiety or stress that you may experience during the day to help prevent stress from entering your sleep. Taking a relaxing bath before bed, spraying aromatherapy scents, and using natural sounds, such as calming waves, to help drown out street noise can help you create a peaceful place to sleep.

If you have frequent and recurring nightmares that interfere with your quality of sleep or keep you from getting enough sleep, speak with a healthcare provider to discuss other options.