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Nightmares & Sleep Disorders

Nightmares

Nightmares occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) cycle of sleep and often result in intense feelings of anxiety, distress, fear, and/or terror. Nightmares typically end up awakening the sleeper and occur towards the end of the night.

Nightmares have the following characteristics:

  • Vivid dreams that appear real and often become increasingly disturbing
  • Dreams that wake the sleeper up
  • Dreams with plots which are fear, terror, or anxiety-inducing
  • Dreams that make the sleeper feel sad, anger, or disgust
  • Dreams that make the sleeper feel sweaty or paralyzed in bed temporarily
  • Dreams that make it difficult for the sleeper to fall asleep again

Consistent occurrences of nightmares can often turn into a Nightmare Disorder, which is also known as “repeated nightmares”. This then begins to impact an individual’s social, familial, or occupational area of life.

Nightmare Disorder

Nightmare Disorder is a form of Parasomnia, which is a type of sleep disorder that involves bad experiences while trying to fall asleep, during sleep, or when waking up.

The characteristics of a Nightmare Disorder are listed below. It is important to note that these are in addition to the general nightmare traits mentioned above.

  • Disturbances during sleep result in problems while functioning or doing daily tasks during the day
  • Mental or physical health issues, or medications that do not explain the occurrence of nightmares

Sleep Terrors

Sleep terrors are another type of Parasomnia, occurring just before the REM cycle, in which the sleeper cries, screams, or thrashes around due to feelings of fear or terror. Individuals with sleep terrors may get out of bed and walk around and may be prone to violent or harmful activity. Individuals will often remain in a ‘sleep terror’ state for a 20-minute period and will then return to either the REM cycle or deep sleep without waking up. Individuals waking up from a sleep terror may also experience amnesia for a short period of time. During this period, the individual may feel confused about themself, location, etc. This only lasts a few minutes and is not a permanent condition.

Causes

Nightmares are often the result of high stress, anxiety, or trauma. Nightmares are also a natural reaction to everyday stress. Lets take a detailed look at the causes of nightmares:

  • Moderate stress: Everyday stressors in life, such as issues at school, in the workplace, in relationships, at home etc. can also cause nightmares. Stress.
  • Extreme stress: Major changes in life such as a death of a loved one or moving countries can have the same impact.
  • ​Trauma: It is very common for individuals to have nightmares following a traumatic event or experience in their life. Nightmares are especially prevalent in PTSD.
  • Sleep deprivation: Changes in sleep schedules or lack of sleep also result in nightmares due to the stress on the body. Shift work also has the same impact due to the irregular sleep pattern.
  • Medications: Some medications and drugs can cause nightmares. Some antidepressants, beta-blockers, blood pressure medicine can trigger nightmares on rare occasions.
  • Substance abuse: Misuse of alcohol and illegal drugs can also be a trigger for nightmares.
  • Scary books and movies: Reading scary stories or watching scary movies can often trigger nightmares in young children and, at times, adults.
  • Other disorders: Other mental or physical health issues, such as anxiety or depression, can also trigger nightmares.

Sources:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/nightmares
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/nightmare-disorder/basics/symptoms/con-20032202
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/914428-overview
https://www.sleepassociation.org/patients-general-public/sleep-terrors/