A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear and/or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness.
The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological
or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and
may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period of time.
Nightmares can have physical causes such as sleeping in an uncomfortable or awkward position, having a fever, or psychological causes such as stress and anxiety.
Eating before going to sleep, which triggers an increase in the body's
metabolism and brain activity, is a potential stimulus for nightmares.
Recurrent nightmares that can interfere with sleeping patterns and cause insomnia may require medical help. Recurring post-traumatic stress disorder
nightmares in which real traumas are re-experienced respond best to a
technique called imagery rehearsal. First described in the 1996 book Trauma and Dreams by Harvard psychologist Deirdre Barrett, imagery rehearsal therapy
involves the dreamer coming up with an alternate, mastery outcome to
the nightmare, mentally rehearsing that outcome awake, and then
reminding themselves at bedtime that they wish this alternate outcome
should the nightmare recur. Research has found that this technique not
only reduces the occurrence of nightmares and insomnia, but also improves other daytime PTSD symptoms.
Two definitions of "nightmare" is a dream which causes one to wake up
in the middle of the sleep cycle and experience a negative emotion,
such as fear. This type of event occurs on average once per month. They
are not common in children under 5, but they are more common in young
children (25% experiencing a nightmare at least once per week), most
common in teenagers, and less common in adults (dropping in frequency
about one third from age 25 to 55).
Fearfulness in waking life is correlated with the incidence of nightmares.
~Good Night... and have a Pleasant Nightmare~
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