Vivid nightmares causes

Adult Nightmares: Causes and Treatments

Written by Hilary Parker

What Are Nightmares?

Nightmares are vividly realistic, disturbing dreams that rattle you awake from a deep sleep. They often set your heart pounding from fear. Nightmares tend to occur most often during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when most dreaming takes place. Because periods of REM sleep become progressively longer as the night progresses, you may find you experience nightmares most often in the early morning hours.

The subjects of nightmares vary from person to person. There are, though, some common nightmares that many people experience. For example, a lot of adults have nightmares about not being able to run fast enough to escape danger or about falling from a great height. If you've gone through a traumatic event, such as an attack or accident, you may have recurrent nightmares about your experience.

Although nightmares and night terrors both cause people to awake in great fear, they are different. Night terrors typically occur in the first few hours after falling asleep. They are experienced as feelings, not dreams, so people do not recall why they are terrified upon awakening.

What Causes Nightmares in Adults?

Nightmares in adults are often spontaneous. But they can also be caused by a variety of factors and underlying disorders.

Some people have nightmares after having a late-night snack, which can increase metabolism and signal the brain to be more active. A number of medications also are known to contribute to nightmare frequency. Drugs that act on chemicals in the brain, such as antidepressants and narcotics, are often associated with nightmares. Non-psychological medications, including some blood pressure medications, can also cause nightmares in adults.

Withdrawal from medications and substances, including alcohol and tranquilizers, may trigger nightmares. If you notice a difference in your nightmare frequency after a change in medication, talk with your doctor.

Sleep deprivation may contribute to adult nightmares, which themselves often cause people to lose additional sleep. Though it's possible, it has not been confirmed whether this cycle could lead to nightmare disorder.

There can be a number of psychological triggers that cause nightmares in adults. For example, anxiety and depression can cause adult nightmares. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also commonly causes people to experience chronic, recurrent nightmares.

Nightmares in adults can be caused by certain sleep disorders. These include sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome. If no other cause can be determined, chronic nightmares may be a distinct sleep disorder. People who have relatives with nightmare disorder may be more likely to have the condition themselves.

What Are the Health Effects of Nightmares in Adults?

Nightmares become much more than bad dreams when they have a significant effect on your health and well-being. Among people who experience nightmares, those who are anxious or depressed are more likely to be distressed about the experience and suffer even more psychological ill effects. Although the relationship is not understood, nightmares have been associated with suicide. Because nightmares may have a significant impact on your quality of life, it's important to consult a medical professional if you experience them regularly.

Sleep deprivation, which can be caused by nightmares, can cause a host of medical conditions, including heart disease, depression, and obesity.

If nightmares in adults are a symptom of untreated sleep apnea or post-traumatic stress disorder, the underlying disorders can also have significant negative effects on physical and mental health.

Treatments for Nightmares in Adults

Fortunately, there are steps you and your doctor can take to lessen the frequency of your nightmares and the effect they are having on your life. First, if your nightmares are the result of a particular medication, you may be able to change your dosage or prescription to eliminate this unwanted side effect.

For people whose nightmares are caused by conditions such as sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome, treating the underlying disorder may help alleviate symptoms.

If your nightmares aren't illness- or medication-related, don't despair. Behavioral changes have proven effective for 70% of adults who suffer from nightmares, including those caused by anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Imagery rehearsal treatment is a promising cognitive behavioral therapy for recurrent nightmares and nightmares caused by PTSD. The technique helps chronic sufferers change their nightmares by rehearsing how they would like them to transpire. In some cases, medications may be used in conjunction with therapy to treat PTSD-related nightmares, though their efficacy has not been demonstrated as clearly as that of imagery rehearsal treatment.

There are a number of other steps you can take on your own that may help reduce your nightmare frequency. Keeping a regular wake-sleep schedule is important. So is engaging in regular exercise, which will help alleviate nightmare-causing anxiety and stress. You may find that yoga and meditation are also helpful.

Remember to practice good sleep hygiene, which will help prevent the sleep deprivation that can bring on nightmares in adults. Make your bedroom a relaxing, tranquil place that is reserved for sleep and sex, so that you don't associate it with stressful activities. Also, be cautious about the use of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine, which can remain in your system for more than 12 hours and often disrupt sleep patterns.

Why They Happen and How to Stop Them

What are vivid dreams?

While we think of sleep as a time for recharging the body, the brain is actually quite active during sleep — dreaming. Our dreams can be soothing or scary, mysterious or helpful, and realistic or fantastical.

Sometimes we wake up and have no idea that we’ve dreamed, while other times, we can closely recall our dreams because they were so intense. These are known as vivid dreams.

Brain scientists aren’t sure why humans dream in the first place, but they think it has something to do with memory.

Dreaming might help the brain eliminate any unnecessary information or memories while processing and storing what’s important. Some people feel more refreshed after having had slept and dreamed, even if they do not remember dreaming.

People are most likely to remember the last dream they’ve had in their sleep cycle. But it’s possible to remember a vivid dream long after it’s occurred if it seemed very intense.

Vivid dreams can be positive or negative, realistic or fantasy. Scientists know that most heavy dreaming occurs during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep normally cycles every 90 minutes during a night of sleep and may last 20 to 25 minutes.

About 25 percent of an adult’s night of sleep is spent in REM cycles. The average adult should get between seven and nine hours of sleep per night for optimal health. That’s a lot of time for dreaming!

So, what causes vivid dreams? Scientists aren’t completely sure. But they think the following factors may play a part.

Stress or anxiety

Difficulties real and imagined can cause a person to experience stress and anxiety in their daily life. Problems with friends, family, school, or work can trigger intense dreams as can big events like getting married or buying a house.

Stressed caused by traumatic events, such as a death of a loved one, sexual abuse, or a car accident can also cause vivid dreams. Anxiety, in particular, is associated with an increased risk of disturbing and intense nightmares.

Sleep disorders

Sleeping issues that cause a lack of sleep, such as insomnia and narcolepsy, can increase one’s risk of experiencing vivid dreams.

Changes to your sleep schedule, such as flying overseas (and going to sleep at a different time) or getting less sleep than usual, can also increase this risk.

Medications

There are some medications that have been reported to contribute to vivid dreams. These medications include many antidepressants, beta blockers, blood pressure medications, Parkinson’s disease drugs, and drugs to stop smoking.

Substance abuse

Using alcohol in excess, using recreational drugs, or experiencing a withdrawal from drugs can trigger vivid dreams, often nightmares.

Other health disorders

In addition to stress and anxiety, other mental health conditions, such as depression and schizophrenia, are associated with vivid dreams. Physical illnesses, like heart disease and cancer, have also been associated with vivid dreams.

Early pregnancy

Pregnancy can trigger changes in the body’s hormone levels, sleep patterns, and emotions. Many pregnant women say they experience vivid dreams, especially during the early days of their pregnancy.

Normally, vivid dreams are nothing to worry about. Sometimes they may only affect you during a certain part of your life.

But negative vivid dreams, especially if they last for weeks or months, can be emotionally disturbing and disruptive to your sleep. And that can cause health problems.

Some common side effects of vivid dreams include:

Daytime sleepiness. This can cause concentration and memory problems that can affect your productivity at school or work. It can even affect your ability to carry out everyday tasks, such as driving or taking a shower. Even the smallest tasks can become dangerous if you get distracted.
Mood problems. Vivid dreams can be emotionally draining, causing depression or anxiety symptoms. This can be an especially concerning problem if your vivid dreams persist over time.
Resisting sleep. You may find that you consciously or subconsciously avoid going to bed or falling asleep because you fear you’ll have another bad dream.
Suicidal attempts or thinking. Some people have reported suicidal thoughts (ideation) secondary to troubling dreams. This is extremely serious. If you have attempted or are considering suicide, get help from a crisis or suicide prevention hotline. Try the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. It’s important to get help right away.

It isn’t always possible to pinpoint an exact cause of vivid dreams. In many cases, these dreams will go away over time.

But if your vivid dreams are causing you emotional distress or physical problems, you might benefit from medical treatment or lifestyle modifications.

Schedule an appointment with your doctor or a sleep specialist to try to determine what treatments or lifestyle modifications are right for you.

Here are some of the common treatments for vivid dreams.

Medical intervention

If your vivid dreams are caused by an underlying mental or physical health condition, you can reduce your risk of vivid dreams by treating that condition.

Staying healthy

Eating well, maintaining a healthy weight, getting enough sleep, maintaining a regular sleep schedule, drinking enough water, and looking after your mental health can help prevent vivid dreams.

Coping with stress and anxiety

Everyone experiences stress and anxiety, but some people are better at coping with it than others. If you feel that your stress and anxiety levels are out of control, you might want to consider:

meditation
deep breathing
relaxation techniques
art therapy
exercise
other activities that can ease your stress

Another major thing you can do is to make sure you always reserve some time for relaxation during the day so you don’t feel overwhelmed. A racing mind can result in vivid dreams and sometimes nightmares.

Imagery rehearsal therapy

This treatment is often used for people experiencing vivid dreams, especially nightmares, as a result of trauma. This therapy, done with a mental healthcare professional, involves changing the ending to a nightmare you remember when you’re awake until it no longer becomes threatening.

Your mental healthcare provider will ask you to continue playing over the new, nonthreatening ending to the dream in your mind. This therapy is designed to reduce a person’s frequency of vivid dreams — especially nightmares.

Medication

Most doctors don’t recommend use of medication to treat vivid dreams. However, in the case of nightmares induced by trauma, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, a doctor may consider prescribing sleeping medication or anti-anxiety medication to help induce sleep.

Why do I have nightmares and what to do if they do not go away?

No one is safe from nightmares. They can torment adults and children, men and women, people of various professions and marital status. In order not to jump up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, you first need to understand why nightmares can occur. As it turns out, there are a number of reasons for bad dreams, and some of them are very easy to deal with.

Why do you have nightmares

There can be many reasons for nightmares, as a rule, frightening dreams come from physical or mental discomfort:

Stuffiness, uncomfortable bed, loud music, bright lights, overeating (especially in combination with alcohol), overwork - these and other sources of physical discomfort can provoke nightmares.
High temperature. Fever during illness can also cause bad dreams.
Severe stress due to personal drama or extreme situation. If you can’t solve a problem in any way or forget a long-standing psychological trauma or resentment, the subconscious mind will actively signal this to you at night in the form of nightmares. nine0010
Profession. Both people who are faced with blood, death, cruelty (doctors, military), and representatives of creative professions due to their rich imagination can suffer from nightmares. That is why no one is immune from nightmares.

Nightmares: what to do

Regular “watching” of horror films in your sleep is a reason to correct your habits and lifestyle. First of all, create a comfortable environment for a good, restful sleep:

take a walk in the fresh air in the evening; nine0010
well ventilate the room in which you rest;
do not overeat at night and do not drink alcohol (at least three hours before bedtime), it is better to drink herbal tea to calm the nervous system;
take relaxing baths;
turn off the TV and turn on pleasant, calm music;
don't watch horror movies. Fear and a sense of danger are deposited on the subconscious;
remove objects from the room that distract you or annoy you. nine0010

How to get rid of nightmares

How to get rid of nightmares and return healthy sound sleep, advises psychologist-consultant, member of the Russian Psychological Society Elena Akhromeeva.

— Nightmares are not just a bad dream, but a whole storehouse of useful information about your life and experiences. Therefore, in order to get rid of nightmares, first of all, you need to try to decipher the message about the causes of anxiety and worries that a bad dream contains. Here are 7 tips to help you meet this challenge. nine0003

Tell the dream in detail

Tell your dream in great detail in the first person and in the present tense. For example: “I am running up a glass staircase. Suddenly I see a crack. The steps begin to crack underfoot ... ".

Pay attention to your feelings and thoughts. For example: “Fear - because I think that I can break. Interest, because the crack began to spread very beautifully along the steps.

Now connect your feelings with the current events that are happening in your life. For example: “I'm thinking about changing jobs, but I'm really scared to quit. But thanks to the dream, I realize that trying myself in a new field is very interesting. Now I will think about my interest, and not about fear. nine0003

As we can see, the nightmare helped resolve an inner doubt: I want to change jobs, but I'm scared. The dream helped to find motivation for action - this is interest!

Invent the end of the dream

If you suddenly woke up and did not finish watching the end of the nightmare (or do not remember it), then try to invent it. Write or say out loud in the first person how you would like the action in this dream to end. The fact is that our psyche does not tolerate incompleteness. If you complete the action, even in the imagination, then anxiety will decrease significantly. nine0003

Draw your nightmare

Analyze: what does this picture say? What message does this drawing convey? Who wants to show a picture? Who do you want support from? All these actions will also help reduce anxiety and understand the causes of bad dreams.

Do not look for esoteric meaning in a nightmare

Remember that dreams are just a product of your brain. Do not look for magical or esoteric meaning in your nightmares. During a nightmare, the unconscious part of the psyche tries to cope with the difficult feelings that you encounter in real life. Nightmares can even be considered as a useful function, as they help the unconscious part of the psyche to cope with stress, internal conflicts, traumatic events. nine0003

Practice good sleep hygiene

go to bed at the same time;
observe a full-fledged diet, the last meal should be 2-4 hours before bedtime;
physical and mental activity must also be completed 2-4 hours before bedtime;
take a short walk before going to bed, get some fresh air;
sleep in a dark, cool, well-ventilated room;
take care of a comfortable mattress and pillow, as well as comfortable clothes for sleeping. nine0010

Learn how to lucid dream

Neuroscientists have proven that lucid dreaming (LU) is indeed possible. Lucid dreaming is a state in which a person is aware that they are dreaming and can influence its plot and their actions. By managing your sleep, you can "rewrite" your nightmare.

Consult a psychotherapist or psychiatrist

A specialist will conduct a differential diagnosis. Since nightmares can mask hypnagogic hallucinations (when imaginary sensations, for example, images, sounds, touches, thoughts, seem real), nighttime panic attacks. Also, recurring nightmares that lead to insomnia can be symptoms of a depressive or anxiety disorder, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). nine0003 During a nightmare, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system is excited, which should be relaxed. Photo: Shutterstock

Night terrors: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment | doc.ua

Night terrors are realistic dreams, quite colorful, they can wake a person even during deep sleep. Due to the experiences that were in the nightmare, the sleeping person's heartbeat quickens. Most often, nightmares occur during rapid eye movement sleep. People usually see nightmares in their dreams closer to the morning, because the REM phase becomes longer throughout the night.

Attention! nine0131

Here you can choose a doctor who treats Night Terrors If you are not sure about the diagnosis, make an appointment with a general practitioner or general practitioner to clarify the diagnosis.

Each person has an individual theme and plot of nightmares. But there are some of the most common night terror scenarios. For example, a person escapes from some danger hanging over him, runs as fast as he can, but in place, or tries to scream, but his voice disappears. Often, in nightmares, people dream that they are falling from a great height. If a person has experienced some kind of terrible trauma or a heavy loss for him, then he can experience it again and again. nine0003

It is worth distinguishing between such concepts as nightmares and night terrors. Night terrors disturb a person in the first hours of sleep. These are sensations, not dreams, which is why most often a person cannot remember what happened in this dream and describe what specifically made him wake up in a fright.

As a rule, children see nightmares in their dreams, but sometimes an adult can be disturbed and wake up by a nightmare. From 2% to 8% (this figure is constantly changing) of the population over the age of eighteen may suffer from nightmares. nine0003

Causes

A nightmare in an adult, as a rule, occurs suddenly, and it is necessarily provoked by various factors. It happens that a heavy dinner is the cause of a nightmare. A large amount of food increases the amount of processing, and the body needs to be in a state of high activity for this. In addition, various medications can cause nightmares, most often antidepressants and narcotic drugs, as well as pharmaceutical products for high blood pressure. nine0003

During the period of painful weaning from drugs, including tranquilizers and alcohol, a person may be disturbed by nightmares. In the event that a connection has been noticed between taking specific medications and nightmares, it is worth discussing this with a psychotherapist.

Poor sleep may be one of the causes of nightmares. In addition, the occurrence of nightmares can be on a psychological level. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress are the main causes of constant recurring nightmares. nine0003

In adults, nightmares can be caused by a specific sleep disorder. These include apnea (stopping breathing during sleep lasting from ten seconds to three minutes) and restless legs syndrome (unpleasant sensations in the lower extremities, in which there is an irresistible desire to move them). People whose relatives are exposed to similar phenomena can also suffer from nightmares.

Symptoms

Night terrors can affect human health. People who constantly have bad dreams begin to experience anxiety and may fall into depression, in connection with this they become sickly and prone to mental pathologies. It is extremely rare that recurring nightmares lead to suicide. If a person is haunted by horrors in a dream, it is better for him to consult a doctor about this. nine0003

In addition, nightmares can cause lack of sleep, which also adversely affects the human body. Against this background, cardiovascular diseases and obesity can develop. If the nightmare was the result of untreated sleep apnea, then this can also have a very bad effect on human health.

Diagnosis

When diagnosing such cases, the most important thing is to find the cause. The next task is to determine how you need to change your lifestyle in order to minimize the number of nightmares. nine0003

Treatment

The elimination of frequent nightmares depends on the cause of their occurrence, and there are many different ways to do this. To begin with, if suddenly horrors in a dream began to haunt a person after taking some kind of medicine, then it is worth reducing the amount of intake or even replacing it in order to avoid this side effect. If the cause is sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome, then it is not the appearance of nightmares that should be treated, but the disease itself. So, 70% of cases of nightmares caused by various emotional upheavals can be eliminated by changing the daily routine and lifestyle. nine0003

Imaging treatment is a cognitive-behavioral treatment technique often used to treat recurring PTSD-induced nightmares. Therapy works due to the fact that a person imagines events in such a way that the situation would be resolved in his favor in the best way. Sometimes special auxiliary preparations can be used with this therapy, but this is not at all necessary, since this method works fine without them if used regularly.

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