What health problems do nightmares talk about?

Everyone has nightmares in their lives. And we think that this is quite natural. But if bad dreams start recurring, it might be time to get your health checked. After all, there may be much more behind this than just a “scary movie” that scares our brains.

Mental health problems

Frequent nightmares are a possible symptom of panic disorder, schizophrenia, dissociative and borderline personality disorder. Most often, nightmares are associated with mental health problems: clinical depression and clinical anxiety. 11,4% of clinically depressed patients reported having nightmares. And among those with clinical anxiety, this figure reaches 17,1%.

Unprocessed psychological trauma

Nightmares are one of the symptoms used to diagnose PTSD. And yes, many people have nightmares directly related to their trauma, but this is not always the case. According to one study, 60% of subjects reported having suffered from nightmares and prior to injury. This suggests that nightmares can throw you out of harmony and inner strength and increase the likelihood that you will become a victim of psychological abuse.

Side effects of medicines

Tell me honestly, do you always read the paragraph in the instructions for use of the medicine about possible side effects? Yet many drugs often cause nightmares. In theory, any drug that affects neurotransmitters in the brain, be it antidepressants or mood stabilizers, can negatively affect your dreams. By the way, blood pressure medications, sleeping pills, allergy medications and steroids can also cause nightmares.

A hearty dinner before bed

Researchers at the Canadian Center for Research in Sleep Medicine found that 17,8% of college students report having more restless sleep after eating late. According to the National Sleep Foundation, if you eat before bed, your metabolism kicks in and your brain becomes more active. This means that he begins to create more active dreams for you, including those with nightmares. The solution is very simple: stop eating before bed and bad dreams will go away.

Lack of sleep

It’s kind of a vicious circle. Nightmares make you sleep less, but naps in turn cause nightmares. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that 17,1% of people with frequent insomnia report frequent nightmares even when they can sleep. The explanation is very simple: when you do not get enough REM sleep for a long time, your brain becomes overactive and as you plunge into this phase, you may have bad dreams.

Breathing problems

It is possible that during sleep you have apnea – the cessation of pulmonary ventilation during sleep for more than 10 seconds. Most often it lasts 20-30 seconds. It is because of this that you have nightmares. A study published in the journal Sleep Medicine found that patients who suffered from sleep apnea and nightmares after treatment experienced fewer nightmares afterwards.

Common sleep problems

Although sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep problems, your nightmares may indicate other problems such as sleep paralysis, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy. Or maybe you have a nightmarish disorder. Sounds threatening. In fact, nightmare disorder is the occurrence of repetitive dysphoric and / or anxious dreams accompanied by fear. They are a manifestation of intense human mental activity in the REM sleep phase, which lasts about 10-20 minutes and is often accompanied by awakenings. Nightmare disorder is most common in children under the age of 10, but about 4% of adults still suffer from this disorder.

Latent lactose intolerance

We already wrote that dinner before bedtime is harmful. But if you cannot control yourself, at least exclude dairy products from your nightly diet. A study by the Canadian Center for Advanced Study in Sleep Medicine found that subjects who consumed dairy products before bed were more likely to experience disturbing dreams. Lactose intolerance is one of the most common food allergies and is often overlooked. Meanwhile, 65% of the population does not tolerate lactose well in adulthood.