share: Do you get nightmares? Here are some ways to avoid them
Nightmares are often a horrible experience. We all get them from time to time, from the very young to the old. They are often quite similar; running and not getting anywhere, screaming and no sound from our mouths, falling, crashing, missing an exam or important event, or losing all our teeth. Not to mention that old stand by of showing up somewhere...naked.
There are ways, however, to lessen our chances of having an nightmare. Nightmares happen during our REM sleep and we often remember them. Nightmares tend to occur towards dawn, rather than early in sleep.
We need to monitor our caffeine and alcohol usage. Coffee is a stimulant that can cause sleep deprivation, which in turn can cause nightmares that result from stress-induced fatigue. Chocolate is also a culprit for some. Alcohol is initially a stimulant but is actually a depressant. Drinking heavily may send a person to sleep quickly but it often causes them to wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to fall back to sleep. But the chemicals in alcohol can trigger nightmares. In fact, we should always avoid food or drink before bedtime because it triggers our metabolism and increases brain activity at a time when we should be decreasing it. Spicy foods late at night should be avoided, as well as sugary foods for children.
Smokers and those with sleep apnea tend to experience nightmares more than others.
Stress and emotional trauma are the main triggers for adults. Problems with work or relationships, an illness (which in itself can cause nightmares) or past abuse can lead to occasional nightmares for a lifetime. Therapy, meditation, yoga, a healthy diet, and a restful couple of hours before sleeping will help.
Establish a routine before bed. A warm bath, some easy reading, sex or your favorite show (that is hopefully not too violent!) will ease you into a relaxed routine for bed. No more than one glass of wine in the evening is recommended.
Some things we cannot help are nightmares when we are ill. Fevers tend to promote nightmares, in children as much as adults, and they leave once we feel better.
Tell Us
Do you get nightmares? Are they frequent? What do you think triggers them?
All user-generated information on this site is the opinion of its author only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. Members and guests are responsible for their own posts and the potential consequences of those posts detailed in our Terms of Service.
Add a Comment45 Comments
This is interesting because I started having a nightmare repeatedly just before the holidays. I've assumed that it's simply due to stress, but your article raises some interesting points about chemicals, etc. Anyway, my nightmare is not all that long, but is enough to give me the heebie jeebies. Basically, I'm just walking up a tall set of stairs. And I mean tall, like the height of a typical skyscraper. At some point as I'm walking up, I look behind me and get freaked out at how high I've climbed. I start to lose my balance and I realize that if I fall back, I'm dead. It's an overwhelming feeling. Then I either wake up or I start all over again at the bottom of the stairs.
I haven't had it as much since the holidays, which is a good thing.
January 9, 2009 - 4:28pmThis Comment
mine never stops though everynight i wake up at 2 in the morning or 3 and im alreay 9
October 22, 2011 - 6:35pmI've heard a few helpful theories about nightmares:
1. One of my psychology professors said when interpreting dreams (or nightmares), it is not so much about dissecting each event, item, color or detail that you remember from your dream...but even MORE significant is how you FELT. So, to use Kristin's example, what may be more significant about her dream is not the stairs or even the height, but her feelings of being overwhelmed. Then, you can piece together where in your waking life you are feeling overwhelmed, and problem solve from there.
2. A psychology co-worker and friend on mine said "your brain works in mysterious ways", and often when we sleep, our minds are hard at work solving the "unsolvable" problems of the day. This is true for nightmares, too, that our brains may be working through all possible scenarios and problem solving. The dream/nightmare will not make sense to our "waking mind" when we recall the odd and random pieces of the dream/nightmare. For instance, our brains may take a high school memory from 20 years ago and pair it with what we ate for dinner last night and then our three-headed niece asks a question...that your brain is now trying to solve.
I liked the second theory, because as a new mom, I have been in between awake-asleep, and my mind starts racing with awful things that could possibly happen to my toddler!! I absolutely can not watch the evening news or horror movies any more, because now I just insert my toddler into the horrible, unthinkable situation that I saw/heard on TV. The GOOD NEWS about this: my brain is trying to be helpful, and "run through" scenarios as practice, in case anything like this did happen. I have to talk myself down from the images, and tell my brain to stop it! Do any of you with kids have this problem??
January 11, 2009 - 7:54pmi do not have kids but yes my mind does "run through" scenarios that i have messed up in a way and somehow it "tells me " how to do better next time this kind of situation. Most of the its when im going to do something my dreams will be more or less about how i will react and the consequences of some action.
The thing that surprises most doctors is that i am only 14 and this kind of stuff usualy start around 25+
December 16, 2009 - 8:43amI just googled nightmares and this came up. I have a question though, what if I can't find any justification for the dream I am having? what could that mean?
March 15, 2009 - 9:32amJes
Hi Anon
Thanks for your question.
Dream interpretation is not a science and there is no real way to tell anyone what their dreams really mean, although there are many books and ideas out there that explain what something may mean, like running but getting nowhere or teeth falling out.
The same dream can mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people. Some people do tend to have recurrent dreams when they are sick, or anxious or over-tired but since they are dreams, there is no way to really explain them and trying to interpret dreams can cause as much stress as the dream itself.
Not finding a justification for a dream, in all honesty, means nothing at all. Most dreams are inexplicable - which is why so many of us say "you won't believe the crazy dream I had last night..." because our minds work in mysterious ways when we sleep.
Do you want to tell us what your dream is about? Do you have it often and does it worry you?
May 8, 2009 - 11:47ami don't really get nightmares anymore. i did when i was little, but then i decided to make a "dream catcher" (just pieces of string with beads on them) and then i didn't, but i still got a dream catcher, just in case. i got this in the fourth grade, and i haven't had any nightmares anymore...
March 18, 2009 - 11:35amEvery once in a while, say once in every 15 days, I get a very similar kind of a nightmare. I dream that someone has locked me up in a small room, with no lights. Most of the times,it seems as if it happened just as an accident and nobody intentionally did it. I wake up screaming, and hitting my bed, as if I am hitting the door of the room and pleading to open it. And, most of the time, I can clearly recall the dream after i wake up. Can someone please help me with this. I want to know why i get such a dream. And, how can I avoid it ??
thanks in advance, for any kind of help..
May 8, 2009 - 10:26amAnonymous,
You most likely have night terrors. I used to have them as a little girl. When I was about 4 years old I had night terrors for about a month and then they went away.
Night terrors occur when a person is sleeping. In your sleep you may scream, kick, hit, punch, and not even wake up.
My mom took me to see a psychologist and she told me to imagine someone I consider a hero before falling asleep. Then, as soon as I awake from the night terror, draw a picture of what I imaged and talk about it with my parents.
This obviously worked because they stopped shortly after. I know you're not four, but you may want to try something similar and see if it helps you.
Additionally, since purchasing a dream catcher I seem to have many less nightmares than in the past.
May 8, 2009 - 12:19pmAnon
This may be a 'simple' nightmare but it may also be night terrors. Have your heard of these?
Are these nightmares that you are having in the first two hours or so of falling asleep?
Many people with night terrors wake up hitting things or striking out physically, like you do.
Check out our page on sleep disorders, sleep terrors and sleep issues here and tell us what you think?
http://www.empowher.com/media/reference/parasomnias-things-go-bump-night
May 8, 2009 - 12:01pm