Why do I have bad dreams, and what can I do about it?

“One, two, Freddy will pick you up.

Three, four, lock the door to the apartment.

Five, six, Freddy wants to eat you all..."

There is hardly a person who is not familiar with these lines.

A cult horror film from the 1980s, A Nightmare on Elm Street embodied the nightmares of an entire generation.

Why do you have bad dreams and how to deal with them, read on.

Dream or reality?

Sleep takes up about a third of our lives. Therefore, what we experience in a dream often occupies us no less, and sometimes even more, than real events. Of course, you want your dreams to be bright and pleasant. But, alas, even in this parallel world, troubles are possible. Why do I have bad dreams every night?

Bad dreams themselves, if they do not become the norm, do not pose any danger. But most often, nightmares lead to a depressing mood and anxiety for the next few days.

Why do I have terrible dreams?

Any information received consciously or unconsciously during the day can be seen in a dream from a different angle at night. Therefore, children often dream of dinosaurs, scary monsters, monsters, and this terrifies them. Such dreams should be taken out of the window or washed away with water for peace of mind and forgotten about them forever.

Many people use the magic phrase for this: “Where there is night, there comes sleep,” while looking out the window.

A bad dream most often comes in the morning, during the REM stage of sleep, which lasts only 5 minutes . It is clearly remembered and then becomes the subject of discussion.

It may reflect sexual fantasies and sensations, various fears. A detailed interpretation of such a dream helps to calm down and forget the dreamed event forever.

Women have bad dreams more often than men , and this is due to the functioning of the reproductive system. The course of natural monthly cycles with a decrease and increase in basal temperature and premenstrual syndrome can cause bad dreams.

Negative energy accumulated during periods of prolonged stress is processed during periods of sleep. It is used by the cerebral hemispheres to relieve nervous tension. Such night visions bring benefits to a person’s mental state, because negativity is replaced by a positive perception of life, and the person adapts to society.

Having a bad dream is often a signal from the nervous system that it needs help. Nightmares can occur when the subconscious is trying to convey to the conscious mind about the onset of serious failures in the internal secretion organs. After such dreams, a person usually begins to get sick.

Doctors say that some dream details can be correlated with health problems:

• The chases are seen by people with heart problems. When you dream of running with strange feelings of weakness and fatigue, you need to consult a cardiologist and check the functioning of the heart muscle during exercise.
• If you had a bad dream with suffocation, drowning, or a clear lack of air, then you can assume that the disease has affected the respiratory system.
• Video footage of raw meat and the smell of rotten meat may be present due to disturbances in the digestive system.
• Wandering in an impenetrable forest, an unfamiliar place or a labyrinth signals overwork and depression.
• Fire or steam is often dreamed of at high temperatures.

Such visions should be perceived as the work of the body and developed intuition, and it is advisable to take care of your health in a timely manner. Seeing a doctor for a preventive examination helps to get rid of the developing disease in time.

Overwork

Any overwork, physical or emotional, has a negative impact on all systems of our body. We try not to notice such conditions, we try in every possible way to drive away from ourselves all negative thoughts that it is time to rest, that the body cannot work for wear. But it is precisely these harbingers that should become the first bells in order to stop and take a break.

If we do not respond to our dark thoughts, the body begins to send other signals - illness, and due to weakened immunity, nightmares, as a sign of mental disorder.

brief information

According to medical evidence, unpleasant dreams are a product of human brain activity. A sleeping person experiences different feelings:

• unpleasant emotions;
  If you have nightmares
• suffered stress;
• tormenting internal conflicts and experiences.

The brain begins to process everything and try to neutralize it during sleep. This is how nightmares begin. Thus, the body is rebooted, and stress can no longer have a negative effect on the body . If bad dreams haunt you every day, it means there is a deep-seated problem that needs detailed elaboration.

What are the benefits of nightmares?

Oddly enough, at night the brain continues to be awake, even despite a strong desire to sleep. According to psychologists, some nightmares are beneficial for the body in different cases.

Turning points

Every person’s life path is strewn with its own difficulties that must be overcome. Personal growth is only possible if atypical problems are solved. As a rule, in such dreams a good outcome is often visible:

• overcoming obstacles;
• evading pursuit;
• rescue in a catastrophic situation;
• victory over your fears, etc.

Difficult dreams, as a rule, foreshadow a transition to a new stage of development.

Mental treatment

Disturbing night visions

From time to time, a person who has suffered severe psychological trauma may have nightmares, but there is no need to be afraid of them. They help a person throw out accumulated negativity, restoring an unstable state of mind. If you change your attitude towards the current situation, then soon the situation will change dramatically.

Having a problem

If you constantly have bad dreams, then you need to pay attention to a problem that is simply not recognized in real life. There are cases when dreamers do not notice obvious problems around them for a long time, but they cannot be solved by themselves. The dream will indicate the problem, and only then can you begin to solve it.

Why do you dream about them?

Every dreamer can dream of disturbing images, and in the morning there is a feeling of confusion that persists for a long time. The quality of awakening will depend on the current sleep phase:

• fast phase - the dreamer immediately understands that the images he sees are only a figment of his imagination;
• deep phase – long awakening.

People think that dreams with a bad plot foreshadow bad events, but is this true? As mentioned earlier, a dream is the fruit of the active activity of the human subconscious. The images that can be observed every night can be deciphered in a certain way.

Our fears

It often happens that dreams reflect various fears and phobias, both real and imaginary.

Some of them may be hidden in the subconscious for a long time, and their correct formulation is difficult. Night time allows many fears to emerge from the depths of the subconscious, thus giving feedback to the sleeper.

Negative emotions give rise to visions from which we often try to hide, but this does not lead to any solution. For many suspicious people, falling asleep turns into torture. They see threat and danger even where there is none at all. For example, a wife will constantly quarrel with her husband, imagining him in bed with another. Many fears have no real basis, and therefore can cause harm . Eventually they begin to transform into nightmares.

Mirroring experiences

Night mirroring of experiences

Every person often worries that some of his actions led to an unplanned result. The possibility of error always remains, and there is no need to be afraid of it. Why do you dream about your dead grandmother? Is it true that he is trying to say something?

According to the modern dream book, such signs reflect internal experiences. Everything that happens in reality leaves a certain imprint on the subconscious.

Stress

Stressful situations happen almost every day. Moreover, a little stress is even beneficial. They force the brain to think and make decisions. But when life is too stressful, or in cases of severe emotional overload, the brain shows that it can no longer cope on its own. This is manifested by decreased immunity, apathy and nightmares. It would be strange to wonder why you have bad dreams every day when you are in a depressing state.

Nutrition

Doctors around the world agree that overeating and an abundance of heavy fatty foods before bed provoke brain activity, preventing it from relaxing. But the brain absolutely needs this. Therefore, he “swears”, trying in every possible way to show us that he is dissatisfied.

Is it worth talking about the effect of caffeine on the quality of dreams, because it is a serious stimulant of the nervous system.

Pregnancy

It is perhaps difficult to imagine a more inadequate person than a pregnant woman. Being in a sober mind and with good memory, a pregnant woman can behave, at least, strangely.

Why do pregnant women have bad dreams, and how does this condition affect the relationship between mother and baby? This is quite explainable by changes in hormonal levels. The woman’s excessive impressionability during this period, her fears regarding the development of the baby and childbirth - all this leaves an imprint on the content of dreams.

Causes of poor sleep

Several factors influence the quality of your night's rest. All of them are quite obvious and can be explained logically. Here are the reasons why a person often suffers from nightmares:

• overwork;
• frequent stress;
• unresolved internal conflicts;
• negative impressions of the day;
• suppression of one's own feelings.

Scary dreams also happen for medical reasons. They are caused by poor health or high temperature, cardiovascular diseases, mental illnesses that are known or that are just beginning and make themselves felt in this way, as well as taking certain medications.

Dreams of an unpleasant nature are disturbing for many other reasons. Among them:

1. Stuffy room. Uncomfortable temperatures and lack of oxygen lead to poor sleep.
2. Uncomfortable bed. A hard or soft mattress, a bad pillow, a thin or too warm blanket can make it difficult to simply fall asleep.
3. Binge eating. The last meal should be light and easily digestible.
4. Watched a horror movie before bed. The brain replays plots or develops events in its own way under the impression of violent scenes seen in the film.
5. Drinking alcohol or drinks containing caffeine at night. It is not for nothing that doctors do not recommend drinking coffee late at night. Milk or fermented milk drinks are more suitable for this.
6. New place. Change of environment is one of the causes of nightmares.

Nightmares during pregnancy happen for several reasons. The expectant mother is concerned about her well-being and the health of the baby and often worries about this. A woman’s hormonal levels change and there are sharp fluctuations, which cause an increased feeling of anxiety. Low blood pressure and hemoglobin are the reasons why you have bad dreams. Due to the displacement of the diaphragm, the heart rate increases, which makes it difficult to fall asleep. Obstetricians recommend that pregnant women sleep on their sides rather than on their backs, especially later in pregnancy.

Diseases and medications

An increase in body temperature can be a serious cause of nightmares. Moreover, this condition can lead the patient to hallucinations. The cause of a dream in which you are tormented by suffocation may be the notorious runny nose.

The same effects can be expected from some medications, especially antidepressants, barbiturates and narcotic substances. To find out the reason why you have bad dreams, read the instructions for the medications you are taking.

How to get rid of nightmares

If an unpleasant dream came to you by chance and you, in general, understand why you have bad dreams, then nothing bad happened. The correct reaction will help avoid recurrence of unpleasant sensations.

It's another matter when A Nightmare on Elm Street continues for several nights, or even becomes habitual. This situation indicates serious mental disorders that may be associated with any of the above problems. The main thing that is necessary in such a situation is to find the reason. It is best if at this time you receive qualified assistance from a doctor or psychologist.

Don’t let your body set alarm bells ringing, relax, take a walk, and your dreams will always make you happy.

Causes of nightmares

According to Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychologist, psychiatrist and neurologist, a person’s dreams reflect what he strives for in real life. But what about nightmares? Do some people in their subconscious strive to meet monsters or drown in a muddy river? Of course this is not true. Firstly, dreams can be quite symbolic, that is, they express a person’s desires and experiences not realistically, but with the help of hidden images. Secondly, the reasons for bad dreams are somewhat different than for ordinary dreams.

Why do I have nightmares every night?:

1. 
   Childhood psychological trauma. You may no longer remember that as a child you were often punished, called names, or had to witness frequent quarrels between your parents. But these events can affect the quality of sleep in adulthood.

2. Eating shortly before bedtime, especially overeating. Before going to bed, it is recommended to unload the body so that the brain can fully rest, adjusting from daytime wakefulness to night sleep. If you eat heavily in the evening, metabolic processes are disrupted, which can result in nightmares.
3. Psycho-emotional fatigue, stress, depression. Such states can provoke terrible images in the subconscious that will visit you at night and become a reflection of real experiences.
4. Uncomfortable overnight conditions. If the room where you sleep is too hot or cold, stuffy, noisy, or other irritants, you may experience nightmares.
5. A strong shock experienced the day before. The loss of a loved one, violence, an accident, and for the most impressionable, even dismissal from work can become a strong emotional shock and provoke night terrors.
6. Physical fatigue. Bad dreams are more likely to occur not after hard work, when a person falls asleep soundly, but after a routine, a constantly repeating boring activity that is exhausting both physically and mentally.
7. Use of narcotic substances, alcohol, caffeine, as well as discontinuation or initiation of psychotropic, sleeping pills and antidepressants.
8. According to some scientists, people who have a predominant creative mind are more likely to have scary dreams. This is due to the fact that even during the waking period they often find themselves in an imaginary fantasy world, and having good intuition, they are able to anticipate upcoming unpleasant events and interpret them in dreams.
9. Suppression of negative emotions. Often, in order to avoid conflict or not offend a person, people hide their negative emotions, suppressing them within themselves. According to psychologists, this has a very bad effect on the state of the nervous system and the most harmless thing that can lead to is nightmares.
10. Beginning and progressive diseases of the nervous system or any other organs and systems of the body.