Nightmares may be an intense expression of the body working through traumatic experiences, so intense that the nightmare causes the sleeper to wake up. Nightmares may also represent a breakdown in the body's ability to process trauma.
Nightmares, dreams and other sleep disturbances are a common symptom of complex trauma with nightmares recognised as a principal feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The treatment of nightmares not only alleviates those symptoms but is shown to help reduce PTSD symptoms in general.
Indeed, studies suggest that nightmares are often linked to unmet psychological needs and/or frustration with life experiences. Yet those links aren't always easy to make—except in cases of trauma (discussed below), our nightmares tend to reflect our troubles through metaphor rather than literal representation.
Impact on PTSD
Nightmares are a feature of PTSD. Even general nightmares can feel life-threatening, but with PTSD, they are actually tied to an existing trauma that happened in the near or far past. Replaying traumatic events over and over can cause a struggle for someone to cope.
Moreover, having nightmares shortly following a traumatic event predicts more severe PTSD symptoms 6 weeks later. 11 Even with PTSD symptoms abating, nightmares can persist a lifetime.
While there are some medications that can help with chronic nightmares, many experts recommend starting with trauma-focused psychotherapy or counseling. Therapies for repetitive nightmares may involve desensitization and exposure therapy, image rehearsal therapy (IRT) or lucid dreaming.
Intrusive memories
Recurrent, unwanted distressing memories of the traumatic event. Reliving the traumatic event as if it were happening again (flashbacks) Upsetting dreams or nightmares about the traumatic event. Severe emotional distress or physical reactions to something that reminds you of the traumatic event.
Nightmares, like flashbacks, are a normal response to trauma. They can be a way of remembering events that are too distressing to recall in the daytime. Unfortunately, nightmares can make it frightening to go to sleep, and you may be exhausted from disrupted nights.
Nightmares can be triggered by many factors, including: Stress or anxiety. Sometimes the ordinary stresses of daily life, such as a problem at home or school, trigger nightmares. A major change, such as a move or the death of a loved one, can have the same effect.
In a way, chronic nightmares can be a warning about your physical or mental health. If chronic nightmares are disturbing your sleep, it's worth bringing it up to a doctor or therapist. They'll be able to help you create a plan for more peaceful sleep.
1. Being chased. Being chased is one of the most common nightmares. If you dream that you're being chased by something, whether it's an 8-foot-tall rabbit or a shrouded figure, then it's an indicator that you're running away from something or someone in real life.
While nightmares are associated with certain mental health conditions, such as PTSD, anxiety and depression, nightmares aren't considered a psychiatric illness. They're a type of parasomnias, which are behavioral sleep abnormalities.
Mental health conditions: Nightmares are often reported at much higher rates by people with mental health disorders like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, general anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Some experts believe nightmares in PTSD are the sleeping version of “re-experiencing,” or reliving a traumatic event. When you're awake, reexperiencing may occur in the form of a flashback. These intrusive symptoms have to do with how PTSD changes brain regions involved in fear response and memory recall.
Stress or anxiety
Stressed caused by traumatic events, such as a death of a loved one, sexual abuse, or a car accident can also cause vivid dreams. Anxiety, in particular, is associated with an increased risk of disturbing and intense nightmares.
Repressed memories can come back to you in various ways, including having a trigger, nightmares, flashbacks, body memories and somatic/conversion symptoms. This can lead to feelings of denial, shame, guilt, anger, hurt, sadness, numbness and so forth.
Dysphoric dreams – Dysphoric dreams, or "bad dreams," are distinguished from nightmares by a lack of awakening from sleep [34]. Like nightmares, bad dreams involve intense negative emotions, most often anxiety and fear [35].
Feeling jittery, nervous or tense.
Women experiencing PTSD are more likely to exhibit the following symptoms: Become easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions, experience numbness. Avoid trauma reminders.
Symptoms of uncomplicated PTSD include: avoidance of trauma reminders, nightmares, flashbacks to the event, irritability, mood changes and changes in relationships. Uncomplicated PTSD can be treated through therapy, medication or a combination of both.
Re-experiencing is the most typical symptom of PTSD. This is when a person involuntarily and vividly relives the traumatic event in the form of: flashbacks. nightmares.
Complex trauma describes both children's exposure to multiple traumatic events—often of an invasive, interpersonal nature—and the wide-ranging, long-term effects of this exposure. These events are severe and pervasive, such as abuse or profound neglect.
Sleep terrors differ from nightmares. The dreamer of a nightmare wakes up from the dream and may remember details, but a person who has a sleep terror episode remains asleep. Children usually don't remember anything about their sleep terrors in the morning.
The overall pattern seen in the analyses reflect the significant relationship between nightmares and stress, while the finding that nightmares were positively associated with coping bolsters the supposition that nightmares may help to alleviate stress.
Based on this analogy, Freud claims that nightmares are dreams with a sexual content whose libido is transformed into anxiety. The content is generally exempt from any form of distortion and represents the unveiled realization of a repressed desire that has shown itself to be stronger than censorship.