Sleeping in overly warm room can cause nightmares, researchers say. If you're having nightmares, you might want to turn down the air conditioning. Researchers warn that sleeping in a warm room causes your dreams to become more vivid, and that could lead to more intense nightmares.
Dr Neil Stanley, ex-chairman of the British Sleep Society, claims the temperature should be between 16-18°C (61-64°F) during shut-eye. And sleeping in a room that is too warm can lead to sleep disturbances - which in turn makes nightmares more likely to occur.
Overheating can exacerbate this, causing children to experience nightmares and night terrors. This is why their room temperature and the quality of their sleepwear is important to maintain a comfortable sleep temperature; not too hot, nor too cold.
In doing some research, we found a lot of people asking about cold rooms and nightmares. What we didn't find is any evidence that the two go together in any way. At best, it's an old wives' tale. The optimal temperature for sleeping is 60 to 68 degrees.
Temperature affects the way your brain works, and fever can produce waking hallucinations and vivid imagery as well as nightmares. Some people find that too much spicy food leads to nightmares, and this may also be because it raises body temperature.
Although some continue to believe nightmares reduce psychological tensions by letting the brain act out its fears, recent research suggests that nocturnal torments are more likely to increase anxiety in waking life.
Barrett says that in post-traumatic nightmares, the region of the brain involved in fear behaviors, including the amygdala, a structure deep in the brain that works to identify potential threats, may be overactive or overly sensitive.
A cold sleeping environment helps lower your body temperature, making it easier to experience deep sleep. This is why you usually feel well-rested after sleeping in a cold room. Plus, lower temperatures help with melatonin production and better sleep quality.
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.
Speak calmly but avoid waking them.
A person may behave irrationally and violently during a night terror. Trying to wake them up can be dangerous but also futile. Many people in night terrors never wake up during the episode.
Benefits of weighted blankets for kids
While there is still a lot of research to be done, there is some evidence that deep pressure can help reduce anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, night-waking, night terrors, and overstimulation in autistic children and those with developmental disabilities.
Some studies suggest that the discomfort of sleeping in a hot room can cause more frequent awakenings throughout the night and can disrupt restorative rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
In real-life situations where bedding and clothing are used, heat exposure increases wakefulness and decreases slow wave sleep and rapid eye movement sleep. Humid heat exposure further increases thermal load during sleep and affects sleep stages and thermoregulation.
During extreme heatwaves, many people find it more difficult to get adequate sleep. Extreme heat can affect your ability to fall asleep, stay asleep and feel refreshed from sleep.
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.
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.
Your brain is in a semi-awake/semi-asleep state: Part of it is still in rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep—the deep stage of sleep where our brain is more active, allowing for intense dreams. As you begin to rouse, the dream-like imagery of REM sleep intrudes into your waking state.
"If you wake from a nightmare and have difficulty falling back asleep, get out of bed, do something soothing like a few yoga poses or find a place to sit, close your eyes, and try a breathing technique or relaxation exercise."
Impact of nightmares
Trauma-related nightmares generally occur during REM sleep, which is when we tend to have vivid dreams. When you wake up from these nightmares, you may experience fear, anxiety, panic, distress, frustration, or sadness. You can also wake up soaked in sweat and with your heart pounding.
In many cases, they may help the dreamer ameliorate some of their daytime anxieties. Research has found that nightmares can help some people learn to better manage stress.
If you can realize you're in a nightmare, the simplest way to stop it is to make yourself wake up, Arthuro said. But some evidence suggests that it's possible to stay in the nightmare but eliminate your fear by knowing you aren't in physical danger, according to Arthuro.
Upon waking up from a nightmare, it's normal to be acutely aware of what happened in the dream, and many people find themselves feeling upset or anxious. Physical symptoms like heart rate changes or sweating may be detected after waking up as well.