Contents
Why We Have More Nightmares During Confinement
Sleep disorders
Experts explain that bad dreams are common in contexts of stress, uncertainty, anguish and anxiety
If you are reading these lines, it is likely that you are one of the people whose dreams have received the unpleasant visit of the nightmares during confinement. The truth is that there are few cases of “bad dreams” these days. And the explanation is in the context that we have lived because, as revealed by Dr. Oscar Larrosa Gonzalo, clinical neurophysiologist, expert in sleep medicine and member of Top Doctors, nightmares are more frequent in situations of Stress, anguish, concern, fear, mood disturbance y prostraumatic stress.
To this must be added the psychological effect of the news related to the pandemic (number of infected, deceased and seriously ill) and the consequences of the confinement itself. Both cause a feeling of anxiety and anguish that is reflected both in sleep (more cases of insomnia) and in dreams (greater frequency and intensity of nightmares), as stated by Dr. Milagros Merino, member of the Scientific Committee of the Society. Española de Sueño (SES) and the Neurological Sleep Disorders Unit (Hospital Universitario La Paz, in Madrid).
What are nightmares for
Nightmares, as defined by Dr. Merino, are reveries of extremely unpleasant content (survival, safety or physical integrity of oneself or loved ones) that are remembered upon waking, that cause “discomfort”, “annoyance” or “discomfort and that , if they appear recurrently, they constitute a sleep disorder.
Its function or meaning, however, is still under study. An often-cited hypothesis is that put forward nearly 20 years ago by Finnish cognitive neuroscientist and psychologist Antti Revonsuo, who suggested that the biological function of sleep consisted in ‘simulating threatening events and testing the perception and avoidance of threats in an environment safer than waking life.
Currently there are hypotheses, as explained by Dr. Larrosa, that lead to think that frequent nightmares appear due to “high activation of fear and emotional responses during sleep caused by excessive reactive dysfunction of certain neuronal circuits”, while occasional nightmares, according to the expert, have a regulatory capacity for emotions.
On the possibility that they were a “Simulacrum” of waking life, the expert believes that only if they were occasional or temporary could they help to improve adaptation to these situations when the person is awake.
For Dr. Merino, however, nightmares do not fulfill a specific function, although she points out what is suggested by neuroscience that attributes to daydreams the ability to consolidate memory, promote learning, contribute to brain maturation, regenerate neurotransmitters and intervene in the processes in which a subject is aware of himself and the environment.
How and when nightmares occur
Nightmares appear more frequently in the second half of the night, during the sleep phase REM, in which brain activity is more active than in others, with mental activity (daydreams) and rapid eye movements as if we were awake, but with an absence of tone in most of the body’s muscles. “We all dream every day but usually we do not remember what we dreamed unless we wake up immediately afterwards,” explains Dr. Merino.
According to Dr. Larrosa, some of the factors that may influence its appearance, in addition to the stress and anxiety situations mentioned, are: irregularity in sleep schedules, negative thoughts or the consumption of dramatic information as bedtime approaches and increased consumption of alcohol, hypnotics (whose consumption is increasing) and narcotics.
They can also arise, as Dr. Merino adds, when chronic sleep deprivation occurs (caused, for example, by apneas) or by the consumption of some drugs. In addition, it appears recurrently in subjects who are in a state of «hyperalertness». They are more frequent if certain psychiatric pathologies or sleep disorders are suffered and there is also a genetic component, since it is known that they occur to a greater extent if there is family background.
Nightmare prevention
Some simple formulas that can work can be keep regular sleep schedules, avoid heavy and late dinners or start in meditation. And in the current context it is important, as Dr. Larrosa proposes, to avoid seeing or reading news about the situation shortly before bedtime.
The expert from the Spanish Sleep Society explains that techniques are used to modify the content of dreams (through drawings), nightmare coping techniques or relaxation techniques. “When these strategies have not been effective, we must resort to Pharmacotherapy», It indicates.
There is another approach, through the so-called “lucid dreaming”, which are, as Dr. Marino explains, a type of daydreaming in which the subject is aware that he is dreaming and is able to control the course of the content. “Lucid dreams have a neuroanatomical and neurobiochemical basis, and have a clinical application in the treatment of nightmares, turning them into non-unpleasant daydreams. This is achieved with training and they can minimize the frequency, intensity and psychological distress of nightmares, ”he explains.