Nightmares

Nightmares are a common occurrence, especially in children, typically starting around age 3 and continuing until about age 7-8. People with anxiety disorders may experience what experts refer to as “night terrors,” which are panic attacks occurring during sleep. These dreams are often difficult to remember because they evoke terrifying images that we naturally want to forget.

Origin of the Word Nightmare

The term nightmare originates from the Middle English word nihtmare, which combines niht (night) and mare (demon). Historically, it was believed that an evil spirit haunted and suffocated people in their sleep. In modern terms, nightmares refer to frightening dreams accompanied by feelings of oppression and helplessness.

The Psychology Behind Nightmares

From a psychodynamic perspective, nightmares often depict raw, primitive emotions such as aggression and rage that have not been incorporated into the conscious psyche. These emotions manifest as terrifying dream images, leaving us feeling powerless.

Nightmares in Childhood

Nightmares are particularly common in childhood because this is a critical period for emotional development. During this time, children must come to terms with intense emotions like aggression and rage.

Traumatic Nightmares

Nightmares can also be a symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These repetitive, intrusive dreams often mirror the original trauma and focus on themes of life-threatening situations, abandonment, death, or loss of identity. Traumatic nightmares require different treatment from other dreams, as the trauma has shattered the individual’s sense of self. Healing from trauma involves making conscious life changes to accommodate the loss of former illusions about life and identity.

Physiological Aspects of Nightmares

Some believe that nightmares can have a physiological cause. For instance, Edgar Cayce suggested that nightmares indicating the inability to move or cry out might be linked to an improper diet. In such cases, altering one's diet could help reduce nightmare occurrences.

Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT)

For those who suffer from recurrent nightmares, Imagery Rehearsal Therapy (IRT) offers a method to cope with and potentially resolve these distressing dreams. It is a suggested treatment, rather than a cure-all, that can be used nightly until the nightmare is resolved.

Steps of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy

• Write out the text of the nightmare, telling the story in as much detail as you can remember, no matter how frightening.
• Create a new ending for the nightmare. Be sure to make the new ending peaceful, as the goal is to “tame” the raw emotions, not vent them through violence or revenge.
• Rehearse the new version of the story each night just before going to sleep. Try to do this as close to bedtime as possible, without any other activities in between.
• Perform a relaxation exercise immediately after the rehearsal. This could be meditation, yoga, or breathing exercises to help you fall asleep peacefully.

See Anxiety, Sleep Disorders, PTSD, Relaxation Techniques

Many dreams evoke emotions more intense than those we feel in waking life. If these emotions are frightening or disgusting, we call the dream a nightmare. A common feature of nightmares is a desperate attempt to escape, feeling stuck in a terrible situation, or waking up with enormous relief that it was just a dream. Nightmares tend to stay with us longer than other dreams, even causing worry about their meaning.

Causes of Nightmares

Nightmares arise from several sources. Investigations using hypnosis, exploration of associations, emotional content, and psychotherapy have identified six primary causes of nightmares:

• Unconscious Memories: Memories of intense emotions, such as being left in a hospital without a mother, can resurface as nightmares.
• Anxiety from External Situations: Unresolved anxiety from experiences like war or sexual assault often manifests in nightmares. Example: “A THING is marauding around the bleak house I’m in with a small boy. I lock myself in a room, but the THING tries to break in. I woke up screaming.” (Terry F). This nightmare was linked to childhood fears during WWII bombings.
• Childhood Fears: Fear of parental loss, abandonment, or internal drives like aggression and sexuality can lead to nightmares.
• Illness: Nightmares can reflect physical illness. Example: “I dream that a cat is gnawing at my throat.” This dreamer was later diagnosed with throat cancer.
• Precognition: Some nightmares foretell fateful events. Example: “My husband dreamt his friend asked him to fly with him in a black jet. Shortly afterward, my husband’s own jet crashed, and he was killed.” (Anon.).

Dealing with Nightmares

Understanding the causes of nightmares helps in overcoming them. The fears we run from in nightmares need to be confronted while we are awake. Techniques such as imagining ourselves back in the dream and facing the frightening situation can help resolve these feelings.

For example, Terry imagined opening the door he was trying to keep closed in his nightmare and realized the fear stemmed from childhood. Similarly, a woman repeatedly dreamed of a cloth touching her face, which led to intense fear. With her brother’s help, she faced her fear and realized it was her grandmother’s funeral shroud. After processing her emotions, the nightmares stopped.

Techniques for Overcoming Nightmares

By using dream processing techniques, we can change our relationship with internal fears. Imagining ourselves back in the nightmare and confronting what we are afraid of begins the healing process.

See Fear, Anxiety, Night Terrors, Childhood Trauma, PTSD

Nightmares draw your attention to the many hidden fears that may be preventing you from moving forward. In general, nightmares are those dreams that are painful, unpleasant, and frightening. Dream analysts have reported two kinds of nightmares: those in which you wake up with a general sense of fear but can’t recall what scared you—often called a night terror—and those which involve you waking up from a vivid dream at its most frightening or threatening part. Technically, the former is not considered a nightmare, while the latter is.

The Evolution of Nightmare Interpretation

In the nineteenth century, many people blamed nightmares on indigestion. It was only with the publication of Freud’s ideas that nightmares began to be seen as expressions of unfulfilled wishes and sexual anxiety. Jung described them as part of humankind’s ‘collective unconscious,’ suggesting that the helplessness we feel in nightmares is a memory of fears experienced by primitive peoples. Today, most dream interpreters believe these disturbing dreams warn the conscious mind that something is being blocked or ignored.

Understanding the Hallmark of Nightmares

The hallmark of a nightmare is its frightening nature. Nightmares are often long, detailed, and among the easiest dreams to remember. They tend to occur when hidden feelings of guilt, self-doubt, anxiety, anger, worry, and insecurity are repressed. In typical nightmares, you may feel as if you are being buried alive, suffocated, drowned, or chased by a murderer. These distressing dreams usually occur towards the end of a night’s sleep. Everyone has their own type of nightmare, produced by their own hidden fears.

Psychological Insights into Nightmares

Many psychologists, particularly those trained in the Freudian and Jungian traditions, believe that nightmares, like all dreams, carry a host of coded meanings. These disturbing dreams are thought to be the psyche’s way of alerting us that something is wrong or unresolved in our waking lives. Nightmares arise from our deepest fears, frustrations, and repressions. However, they provide an opportunity to discover which part of yourself is threatening your happiness.

Facing Your Fears through Nightmares

If you have a nightmare, try to find out what exactly it is that you fear so much that you’ve pushed it into your unconscious. Your unconscious world sends a loud message, offering a safe space to work through challenging or scary ideas. Examining the content of your nightmares can give you clues to the troubling issues or events that you are not ready to face consciously.

Dealing with Nightmares upon Waking

When you wake up from a nightmare, take a few moments to orient yourself to the reality that, no matter how frightening the dream, it cannot harm you. Try to remember as many details as possible, as nightmares offer insight into the worries and fears that plague your mind. Continuing the dream story while awake can help you rewrite the plot from the point of view of the menacing character or object. According to ancient dream lore, overcoming what frightens you in a dream helps you overcome fears in waking life.

See Disasters, Negative Emotions, Spirits, Ghosts, Stages of Life, Surrealism, Fantasy

Universal Landscape: Dreams that help us maintain emotional and psychological balance and equilibrium in the face of stress and fear.

Dreaming Lens

Was your dream a recurring nightmare, or something original? Did you wake up from the nightmare? Was there a specific theme to the nightmare (being chased, being in danger, known or unknown assailant)? Was the danger from something real or fantastical? Was the setting of the dream frightening, or was it innocuous with terrifying undertones? How did the dream leave you upon waking?

Personal Focus

Nightmares are those frightening and often very memorable dreams that can wake you up and leave you riddled with anxiety. While there may be underlying neurological causes for nightmares, for the most part, they are simply a fact in the world of dreams: sooner or later, you are likely to have one.

There are many emerging theories about the neurological structure of nightmares and their potential value regarding stress and psychic balance. However, these theories don’t address the question most people ask: What causes nightmares?

Of course, the answer is that we still don’t know what causes nightmares, or any dreams, for that matter. Some medications can impact the quality and intensity of dreams, including the frequency of nightmares. Many old tales suggest certain activities, like eating red meat or other heavy meals before sleep, could cause bad dreams. Even lying in a particular direction is thought by some to bring nightmares. However, none of these are scientifically proven or widely validated by dream interpreters.

Exploring Nightmare Symbols

There are many symbols that connect to specific, universally experienced nightmares. If your dream contains any such symbols, they can help guide you in understanding your nightmare. If the imagery in your nightmare is atypical and not readily found, the Internet can offer a means of research on symbols with some real-world association. For more fantastical elements, creativity and free association can provide further insights.

Interpreting Nightmares

Nightmares are not easily forgotten, and the emotional reactions they provoke can linger far longer than pleasant dreams. However, this strong recall ability makes nightmares easier to analyze. Many people are highly motivated to understand their nightmares due to the distress they cause.

If dreams are indeed messages from the unconscious, a nightmare is a powerful signal urging us to pay attention. Nightmares may indicate that unresolved Shadow material is surfacing, suggesting an important lesson or issue we need to confront and understand.

See Flood, Fountain, Ice, River, Rain, Snow

Nightmares are significant dreams that help us maintain emotional and psychological balance when faced with stress and fear. These frightening and often memorable dreams can wake you up and leave you filled with anxiety. While there may be underlying neurological causes for nightmares, they are a common experience in the world of dreams, and most people will have them at some point.

Causes of Nightmares

There are many emerging theories about the neurological structure of nightmares and their value in managing stress and maintaining psychic balance. However, the real question most people ask is: what causes nightmares? Unfortunately, we still don’t know the exact cause of nightmares or dreams in general. Some medications can affect the quality, intensity, and frequency of dreams, including nightmares. There are also old wives’ tales about activities that supposedly bring on nightmares, such as eating red meat or other heavy foods before bed or sleeping in certain directions. However, these are not scientifically proven facts.

Impact and Memory of Nightmares

Nightmares are not easily forgotten. The emotional reactions they create can linger in our conscious awareness longer than the memories of pleasant dreams. However, this makes them easier to work with in terms of dream interpretation. People are often highly motivated to understand their nightmares due to the distress they cause.

Nightmares as Messages from the Unconscious

If dreams are messages from the unconscious, nightmares are a powerful way for the unconscious to tell us to pay attention. They may indicate that shadow material is surfacing, which means there is something important for us to learn.

See Fear, Anxiety, Stress, Sleep, Dream Interpretation, Shadow Material