What are nightmares? Why do we have them? What
is the difference between a nightmare and a bad dream? These are
commonly asked questions about nightmares.
A Nightmare happens when a dream you are
having causes extreme distress. Some of the side effects are
sweat, raised pulse and a feeling of extreme fear. Nightmares
happen during REM (Rapid eye movement). Normally, a dream would
play like a movie, where the dreamer is mostly passive. Sometimes
though, not only is the dreamer deeply involved, he is deeply
frightened.
In a bad dream the dreamer may just be working
out daily problems getting in his way. This is common to
everyone. We may not even remember that we had the bad dream
because it was so minor. In a nightmare the dreamer feels as if
some great evil is trying to doom the dreamer (in some cases it
is some kind of escape punishment). Nightmares are usually
significant in that they cause real fear.
A nightmare and a bad dream scares you so much
you wake up suddenly in the middle of the night. This is what
makes them so scary, because when you wake up so suddenly for a
minute you might think it is still going on, and it will remain
in the mind for a long time. Sometimes the dreamer will even wake
up screaming.
Nightmares can also affect your health. If you
have many nightmares you health might not be as good as if you
didn't. When you wake up from a nightmare it is not often easy to
go back to sleep. The nightmare might have scared you so much
that you loathe for a bit. This can disrupt your sleep schedule.
As strange as it may sound, our nightmares are
actually some of the most significant and helpful of all dreams.
They make vivid and memorable some important thoughts and
feelings that we tend to push aside by day, they articulate the
nature of the conflicts we face, and highlight the connection
between present challenges and past history. Nightmares can also
provide early warnings about the potential for future problems if
one continues on the same course of action. By dramatizing our
worst fears they sometimes give us the courage to move forward
without the anxiety of "what might happen" since we
have already lived through the worst in our dreams.
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