Nightmares, Bad Dreams, and Night Terrors - Nightmare
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What Are Nightmares?
Nightmares have an enormous impact on all of us. They are ordinary events
after traumatic events or disasters. Nightmares serve to digest the horrific events.
Just telling them to someone can have a positive effect on an individual's
sense of well being. Nightmares are very common following a traumatic event.
Whether they picture the traumatic event directly, or involve other images
and themes, or both, they probably reflect a normal healing process, and
will diminish in frequency and intensity if recovery is progressing.
If
after several weeks no change is noted, consultation with a therapist is
advisable. ~
ASD
Understand The Meanings Of Your Dreams
Only as high as I reach can I grow,
Only as far as I seek can I go,
Only as deep as I look can I see,
Only as much as I dream can I be.
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Amazing Dream Interpretation Guide Book reveals Dream Symbols,
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Nightmares: Training Films for Spiritual Warriors
Whenever any dream is remembered, it is an indication that the waking mind has a
creative, transformative role to play in the evolution of whatever issue the
dream is
presenting. For millions of years, the ability to pay immediate and focused
attention to nasty, threatening stuff has been a primary survival test. The
creatures who pay
effective attention to threats tend to survive, and the ones who don't tend not
to
survive. In this way, we have been shaped by natural selection to be inherently
predisposed to pay attention to ugly, scary, and menacing experiences.
Why Nightmares Are Good
As a consequence, when the deep source within (from which all dreams spring,
spontaneously and unbidden) has potentially important information to convey to
the
waking consciousness, it is very likely to dress that material up in the form of
a
"nightmare," simply to get our attention. This leads to one of the most ironic
general
principles of dream work: the more horrifying and distressing the dream
experience,
the greater the potential gift of increased understanding and creative energy
the
dream has to offer.
We usually call such dreams "nightmares." The generic message of any nightmare
is:
Wake up. Pay attention. There is a survival issue being brought to your
attention
here! Sometimes the "survival issues" raised by nightmares are related to actual
physical health. Most often, however, the nightmare is trying to draw attention
to
questions of emotional and spiritual authenticity in the dreamer's life.
Why We Remember Nightmares
In my experience, all dreams (and particularly nightmares) come in the service
of
health and wholeness. This means that no dream, no matter how distressing or
menacing, ever came to anyone to say, "Nyah, nyah, you've got these problems and
you can't do anything about them!" The very fact that a dream is remembered in
the first place means that the dreamer actually has at his or her disposal all
the courage, creativity, strength, and wisdom necessary to respond creatively
and transformatively to even the worst "problem" that the dream presents. (If
the dreamer were not in possession of all the energies required for positive,
creative, transformative response, the dream would simply not be remembered.)
This is true not only at the level of individual, psychospiritual health and
wholeness, but at the level of world society, culture, and collective human
struggle as well.
Ironically, for this reason I take heart every time I have (or hear about) a
dream that involves large, planet-wide problems like destruction of the
environment, plague, military conflict, or other massive disruption of society.
The fact that we remember such dreams suggests that we are able to respond
creatively and effectively to these problems, in the same fashion that dreams
addressing seemingly "insoluble" personal problems always indicate our ability
to deal with those problems. Nightmares may also provide symbolic suggestions
and specific creative inspirations, provided we have the wit and wisdom to pay
attention.
Historical Nightmares
However, in some cases the specific creative possibilities proposed by the dream
are
even more challenging than our immediate experience of the problems themselves.
Among these challenging dreams are the really terrible nightmares I call "worst
case
dreams." Hindu and Buddhist dream workers have understood for centuries that
these worst case dreams are deeply associated with the dreamer's effective
spiritual development. It is interesting to note that John Newton, the composer
of the hymn "Amazing Grace," was converted to Christianity and transformed into
an ardent antislavery activist by just such a nightmare: He dreamed of seeing
"all of Europe consumed in a great raging fire" while he was the captain of a
slave ship.Dreams, Nightmares and Spiritual Development
One reason why such distressing dream experiences regularly come to people who
are deeply engaged in their own spiritual development, or those working in the
world to relieve the sufferings of others, is that the only place where evil can
truly be faced and overcome is within. This means that people who are sincerely
engaged in trying to make the world a better place must face and overcome this
order of evil if they are to succeed. The more sincere and effective one's
spiritual development and one's reconciling work in the world, the more likely
it is that one will have worst case dreams of this archetypal order.
In that sense, the worst case dreams are little "training films" for the
spiritual warrior. Another way of looking at such dreams is that they are
"rescue missions" undertaken by the dreaming psyche in the as-yet-unredeemed
depths of the archetypal Shadow and the Inchoate Potential in the collective
unconscious.
The Magic Mirror that Never Lies
Initially, it always seems as though the most difficult task faced by the
dreamer is to look into the "magic mirror that never lies" and take more
responsibility for the
symbolic reflections of our weaknesses and failures. However, over time, it
becomes
clear that an even more challenging task is to acknowledge the size and scope of
our creative gifts and our ability to transform ourselves and our world. The
worst case dream calls upon the dreamer not only to see and accept the depths of
depravity that reside in every human psyche, but even more importantly, to
become more conscious of and responsible for our ability to face, overcome, and
give transformative, creative, and spiritual expression to those archetypal
shadow energies.
(c) 1996 Jeremy Taylor
What is a nightmare?
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. Nightmare themes may vary
widely from person to person and
from time to time for any one
person. Probably the most common
theme is being chased. Adults are
commonly chased by an unknown male
figure whereas children are
commonly chased by an animal or
some fantasy figure.
Who has nightmares?
Just about everyone has them at
one time or another. The majority
of children have nightmares
between the ages of three or four
and seven or eight. These
nightmares appear to be a part of
normal development, and do not
generally signal unusual problems.
Nightmares are less common in
adults, though studies have shown
that they too may have nightmares
from time to time. About 5-lO%
have nightmares once a month or
more frequently.
What causes nightmares?
There are a number of
possibilities. Some nightmares can
be caused by certain drugs or
medications, or by rapid
withdrawal from them, or by
physical conditions such as
illness and fever. The nightmares
of early childhood likely reflect
the struggle to learn to deal with
normal childhood fears and
problems. Many people experience
nightmares after they have
suffered a traumatic event, such
as surgery, the loss of a loved
one, an assault or a severe
accident. The nightmares of combat
veterans fall into this category.
The content of these nightmares is
typically directly related to the
traumatic event and the nightmares
often occur over and over. Other
people experience nightmares when
they are undergoing stress in
their waking lives, such as
difficulty or change on the job or
with a loved one, moving,
pregnancy, financial concerns,
etc. Finally, some people
experience frequent nightmares
that seem unrelated to their
waking lives. These people tend to
be more creative, sensitive,
trusting and emotional than
average.
What can be done about nightmares?
It really depends on the source of
the nightmare. To rule out drugs,
medications or illness as a cause,
discussion with a physician is
recommended. It is useful to
encourage young children to
discuss their nightmares with
their parents or other adults, but
they generally do not need
treatment. If a child is suffering
from recurrent or very disturbing
nightmares, the aid of a therapist
may be required. The therapist may
have the child draw the nightmare,
talk with the frightening
characters, or fantasize changes
in the nightmare, in order help
the child feel safer and less
frightened .
The nightmares which repeat a
traumatic event reflect a normal
psychic healing process, and will
diminish in frequency and
intensity if recovery is
progressing. If after several
weeks no change is noted,
consultation with a therapist is
advisable.
Adults' nightmares offer the same
opportunity as other dreams for
self-exploration and
understanding. With practice, the
dreamer can often learn to decode
the visual and symbolic language
of the dream and to see
relationships between the dream
and waking life. The nightmare by
nature is distressing, however,
and the dreamer may need to reduce
the distress before looking more
closely at the meaning of the
dream. Some techniques for
reducing the distress of the
nightmare include writing it down,
drawing or painting it, talking in
fantasy to the characters, imaging
a more pleasant ending, or simply
reciting it over several times.
The more relaxed the dreamer can
be while using these techniques
the better. A number of good books
are available for learning how to
understand dreams. Alternately,
the dreamer may wish to ask a
therapist for assistance.
Sometimes nightmares are related
to intense stress or emotional
conflict that is best dealt with
in consultation with a therapist.
One should not hesitate to consult
a therapist when in doubt.
It may be surprising to learn that
many people are not really
disturbed by their nightmares,
even though the experiences
themselves are distressing.
Research has shown that about half
of people who have quite frequent
nightmares regard them as
fascinating and creative acts of
their minds, and either view them
as very interesting or dismiss
them as "just dreams". This
illustrates the fact that one's
attitude toward nightmares is
quite important.
What about nightmares and night terrors?
Night terrors are something quite
different. Nightmares tend to
occur after several hours of
sleep, screaming or moving about
is very uncommon, the dream is
usually elaborate and intense, and
the dreamer realizes soon after
wakening that he or she has had a
dream. Night terrors, on the other
hand, occur during the first hour
or two of sleep, loud screaming
and thrashing about are common,
the sleeper is hard to awaken and
usually remembers no more than an
overwhelming feeling or a single
scene, if anything. Nightmares and
night terrors arise from different
physiological stages of sleep.
Children who have night terrors
also may have a tendency to
sleepwalk and/or urinate in bed.
The causes of night terrors are
not well understood. Children
usually stop having them by
puberty. They may be associated
with stress in adults. A
consultation with a physician may
be useful if the night terrors are
frequent or especially disturbing.
Copyright 1991 Association for
the Study of Dreams
What Is The
Technical Definition of a
Nightmare?
Nightmares are frightening dreams
that usually awaken the sleeper
from REM sleep. Nightmares have
sometimes been referred to as
dream anxiety attack, terrifying
dream or REM nightmare. Nightmare
is the preferred term and has been
widely used to describe this
condition for many years in the
pediatric and adult literature.
The reason the other terms have
been suggested is to differentiate
this phenomenon from sleep terrors
(sometimes called stage 4
nightmares) on the assumption that
nightmare was an overall lay term
that covered the stage 4 as well
as the REM sleep event. However,
it is preferable to use the term
nightmares for the REM phenomena,
as they differ radically from
sleep terrors.
What are the symptoms of a
Nightmare?
At least one episode of sudden
awakening from sleep with intense
fear, anxiety and feeling of
impending harm
Immediate recall of the
frightening dream
Alertness is full immediately upon
waking with little confusion or
disorientation.
Associated features:
Return to sleep after the episode
is delayed and not rapid
The episodes occur during the
later half of the sleep period
Polysomnography (sleep recording)
shows:
An abrupt awakening after at least
10 minutes of REM sleep
Mild tachycardia (rapid heart
beat) and tachypnea (rapid
breathing) during the episode.
Absence of epileptic activity in
association with the disorder
Other sleep disorders such as
sleep terrors and sleepwalking can
occur
Night Terrors
People who have night terrors are
often misdiagnosed. The most
common one is a simple nightmare.
Any of you who have had a night
terror can say they aren't even
close! Another common misdiagnosis
(especially among veterans) is
PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder. For this reason I have
included a description of the
difference between nightmares and
night terrors.
Night Terrors Symptoms:
Sudden awakening from sleep,
persistent fear or terror that
occurs at night, screaming,
sweating, confusion, rapid heart
rate, inability to explain what
happened, usually no recall of
"bad dreams" or nightmares, may
have a vague sense of frightening
images. Many people see spiders,
snakes, animals or people in the
room, are unable to fully awake,
difficult to comfort, with no
memory of the event on awakening
the next day.
Night Terror or Nightmare?:
Nightmares occur during the dream
phase of sleep known as REM sleep.
Most people enter the REM stage of
sleep sometime after 90 minutes of
sleep. The circumstances of the
nightmare will frighten the
sleeper, who usually will wake up
with a vivid memory of a long
movie-like dream. Night terrors,
on the other hand, occur during a
phase of deep non-REM sleep
usually within an hour after the
subject goes to bed. This is also
known as stage 4. (A link to a
sleep stages chart can be found on
the navigation bar to the left)
During a night terror, which may
last anywhere from five to twenty
minutes, the person is still
asleep, although the sleepers eyes
may be open. When the subject does
wake up, they usually have no
recollection of the episode other
than a sense of fear. This,
however, is not always the case.
Quite a few people interviewed can
remember portions of the night
terror, and some remember the
whole thing.
©
Night Terror Resource Center -
David W. Richards
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