What Are Nightmares?

A nightmare is a very distressing dream which usually forces at least partial awakening.

The dreamer may feel any number of disturbing emotions in a nightmare, such as anger, guilt, sadness or depression, but the most common feelings are fear and anxiety.

Probably the most common nightmare theme is being chased. Adults are usually chased by an unknown male figure. Children tend to dream they are being chased by an animal or some fantasy figure.

What causes nightmares?
There are lots of things that can trigger a nightmare. For instance some drugs or medications, or by rapid withdrawal from them, or by physical conditions such as illness and fever.

Many people experience nightmares after they have suffered a traumatic event, such as surgery or the loss of a loved one. These nightmares are typically directly related to the traumatic event and the nightmares often occur over and over.

Nightmares which repeat a traumatic event reflect a normal healing process, and should diminish as recovery progresses. If you don’t see improvement after several weeks you should consult your doctor.

What can you do about nightmares?
It depends on the source of the nightmare. To rule out drugs, medications or illness as a cause, you should check with your doctor.

It helps young children to discuss their nightmares with parents or other adults, but they generally do not need treatment unless they experience a recurrent nightmare for a prolonged period.

Some known ways of reducing the distress of nightmares are: writing it down, drawing a picture of the bad dream, role playing or talking in fantasy to the characters in the dream, imagining a more pleasant ending, or simply reciting the nightmare over several times.