Sooner or later, every person is plagued by nightmares. More and more often, therefore, research is devoted to this unwelcome phenomenon of rest. However, they can also indicate existing ailments.
What are nightmares?
A nightmare is a dream that consists mainly of negative events and/or triggers negative emotions. A nightmare is a dream that consists predominantly of negative events and/or triggers negative emotions. In this case, different scenarios can appear before the mind’s eye during sleep. Quite a few of the nightmares are capable of interfering with the affected person’s night’s rest. From partial strong movements of the body and limbs to verbal screaming and moaning to awakening, a nightmare can bring different effects on a person. The arousals released in the process, which are perceived as disturbing, originate in the subconscious. This is where experiences are processed. One could think of earlier traumas, professional and private failures or similar memories that affect the psyche. Another origin of the nightmare is seen in the imagination. Movies, books or music can either have a direct effect on a person or stimulate his creative thoughts. Even here, the emergence of gloomy moods would be possible, which extend into the dream. Basically, therefore, the mental conditions of a patient must also be checked, provided that he complains more frequently about nightmares.
Function and task
Still science is unclear about the benefit of negative dreams. Certainly, a processing process of earlier episodes of one’s life can take place here. The nightly confrontation of the person with his fears or threats should help not to ignore so far repressed in the future. As a result, many of those affected learn how to deal better with such situations. Nevertheless, nightmares can also have an unreal background. On the one hand, if they are led as an extract from films or books in the subconscious again before the mental eye. On the other hand, when emotional dream images arise without actual reference to life. This is where dream research comes in. It subjects thereby each recognized symbol to its own interpretation. This can take place however without exception under inclusion of the psychological total situation of a patient. Thus, it would have to be further questioned what concretely characterizes a dream. Because the perception in such case studies was different so far. What was registered as disturbing by some subjects did not trigger any symptoms of tension in other comparison groups. Consequently, a nightmare can only be evaluated in purely personal terms. It is therefore often assumed that dream images in gloomy colors occur primarily when the brain is overstrained. Accordingly, they signal the overload of the subconscious in the processing of previous and current experiences. This is supported by the assumption that nightmares are very often accompanied by a perceived mental stress. This can be professional or private worries. Fears of the future are one of the most frequent motives in the scenarios. If a nightmare occurs chronically, therapy would be advisable with regard to any mental suffering. For the majority of people, however, negative dream images occur only occasionally. Often it is enough to structure everyday life a little differently or to provide for relaxation. When searching for causes, it should also be considered that in some cases the intake of medication can also lead to nightmares as a side effect.
Diseases and ailments
Nightmares are associated with a variety of mental impairments. First, for example, the resting phase of sleep is interrupted. This can subsequently result in some form of imbalance. Nervous tension, the easy irritability or the wrong perception of some statements belongs to it. Even depression or neurotic suffering sometimes results from negative dream images. Depending on one’s own feelings, the nightmare can be perceived as very real and trigger the corresponding mental and physical symptoms. The increase of the blood pressure, the cramping of the muscles or the teeth clenching going into the unhealthy are considered here as direct side effects. At the same time, the overall mental situation worsens.Fears can grow, simple challenges can degenerate into insurmountable hurdles. In addition, it is possible that a distinction between dream and reality no longer occurs. Around five percent of patients also feel the threatening scenes of the night in their everyday lives. They tend to paranoid perceptions, suffer from a misjudgement of concrete situations or are no longer capable of social contacts due to the onset of panic attacks. In these serious cases, therapy is not possible without psychological help. In this case, the effect of the dreams can even lead to the fact that the once practiced profession can no longer be continued. In this way, however, a negative cycle sets in. Missing salaries do not alleviate financial worries in particular. Affected persons can therefore get into serious personal situations in which the intensity of the nightmares increases. The elimination of the causes is therefore inevitable. However, it should be noted that nightmares do not usually cause further physical or mental illness. They are only a manifestation of the processing in the brain. In this respect it is different how each person develops under this influence. In case of emergency, medical support would therefore be advisable. Because dream images cannot be ignored. And not every patient succeeds in waking up relatively quickly from such a negative sensation. The longer and more persistent the nightmare, the more likely it is to indicate problems. In itself, however, it very rarely triggers further illness.
